


Don't Look Behind You

by TribalVipe



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Blood and Gore, Campy, Dark Comedy, F/M, Injury, Sexy Times, Stalking, Violence, no one is safe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2018-12-13 00:32:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11748393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TribalVipe/pseuds/TribalVipe
Summary: Six colleagues decide to take a vacation just a few hours outside of the city. It's a winter wonderland where relaxation takes precedent overall...until it isn't.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is something completely different from what I've written before. Well...not really because it's like a bunch of genres all mixed together to make this fic. I love the premise and you all know by now that I love torturing our favorite characters. I hope you enjoy this different kind of fic because I'm loving it! And yes...I started a new fic...so sue me. Also, I have fallen in love with the Calhola (Rita/Fin) ship thanks to roseinutopia/CUtopia on tumblr and fanfiction respectively, and I really wanted to use this ship for this fic. Spice things up. Anyway, enjoy!

**DAY 1**

It was hard to see the snow-capped cabins that flew past them on the icy road, but Olivia could see their small outlines through the clouds of smoky powder dusting across their car.

She rested her head against the cool glass of the window and sighed happily, eyes closing at the contrasting feeling of the glass and the heat surrounding her already well clothed body. The thick gloves she started out with sat on her lap, along with her scarf and empty travel mug where her coffee had been.

She was already feeling the ache of missing her little boy and not being able to see him for a week, but she comfortable knowing he was in capable hands with a woman who loved him more than thought possible. Rafael's mother was the grandparent she'd always worried Noah wouldn't ever grow up, and even if she was going to miss him terribly for the entire week of this snow filled vacation with her boyfriend and their friends, she was happy he was spending time with his unofficial abuelita.

"If Rita brake checks me one more time…," Rafael ground out, gloved hands gripping the steering wheel and letting off the accelerator a bit as red lights blared through the snow in front of them. They were already driving slow, turning their one-and-a-half-hour drive into almost three.

"Probably because you've been tailgating her since we left the city," Liv looked at him, adjusting herself in her seat to face towards him. She enjoyed the little glare he sent her and turned up the knob on the classic rock station playing softly from the speaker.

"Still…I've got precious cargo in this car. I don't need to be getting into any accidents now."

"Rafi," she sighed, running her hand across his thigh. He sent her a confused look at her tone, one eyebrow raised as he eyed her.

"You know I'm talking about my Gucci loafers, right? I paid an arm and a leg for those beauties."

The wink and joking smile on his face told her he wasn't serious in the least bit, and she knew that. More than once had this man next to her reminded her just how lucky he was to have her in his life, even though she felt the same way towards him. She was surprised how vocal he was when it came to matters of the heart, so unlike herself, but she found it aided in helping her do much of the same.

"By the way, I still don't know why we aren't driving up here alone right now. I could handle Fin and Rita, barely and I could handle Rollins, too, but…Carisi? You know how much I want to strangle him sometimes."

"I know, honey, and I applaud your restraint, but again, I couldn't turn down the suggestion. They had me cornered. Then Fin suggested making it a couple's thing and bringing Rita and…well…"

It was true. They had cornered her in her office one night as she was leaving, talking her into the idea as they noticed her immediate hesitance. She even looked to Fin for help, but she was shocked when the man suggested making it a couple's thing, despite Amanda and Carisi being just friends. Those pleading looks were too hard to ignore and when she told Rafael, he pitched a fit that rivaled Noah when she told him he wasn't allowed to have more than two cookies before bed. But, he reluctantly told her he would go and she was almost positive it was because he couldn't say no to her pouty expression.

"Well, trust me, I'm going to be really unpleasant if they try barging into our room unannounced. We're going to set some ground rules."

Liv let him quietly mumble to himself, too focused on the upcoming cabin with a wraparound driveway to their left. It was the largest cabin on the long stretch of road and it cost them a pretty penny, even split six ways, but it was well worth it from the looks of it. Three bedroom suites, a jacuzzi in an enclosed porch, a game room, living room and sprawling forest that lie just feet behind the back yard for scenery and wildlife. Who knew such beauty was only a few hours from the city? She certainly didn't, but she was glad she was going to be spending an entire week in it, enjoying the snow and quiet.

Rafael pulled into the wrap around porch, parking just behind Rita and Fin's car, with Carisi and Amanda leading the head of the pack of cars. They rolled to a stop and she wrapped her hand around her boyfriend's wrist as it went for the keys, grabbing his attention.

"Just promise me you'll have fun? We're here to do everything other than think about work. Even though that probably won't happen."

"I know. I promise. I still wish we were along, though," he grumbled, jingling as he turned it and shut the car off. The car door slamming next to them brought his eyes to hers and she smiled, reaching her hand out and trailing his bottom lip with her thumb.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure your fantasy about fucking in front of the fireplace comes true. But, that's only if you behave yourself and try not to kill Carisi when he wants to include you in game night."

Rafael chuckled, a small smirk replacing his grumpy scowl, and she kissed it briefly before gathering her gloves and shoving them on. The biting cold was already getting to her with the loss of the heat and she was eager to follow the group inside, who'd already grabbed their bags and were chatting happily on the wrap around porch. She wrapped her scarf easily around her neck and moved to open the door, but a hand wrapping around her chin stopped her.

Their lips met in the silence of the car and she was grateful for the privacy the blowing snow provided them when Carisi yelled over the sounds of the harsh winds at them. She broke apart and giggled at Rafael's growl, his hand slipping from her chin and lacing with her fingers instead.

"I may have to back out on the promise not to kill Carisi," he whispered to her, eyes playful bit his scowl returned with a vengeance. She knew he was playing just to mess with her, because he found it amusing when she slapped his arm or his back as a consequence for his statements. She pushed his shoulder and ordered him out of the car, mind already focused on another hot cup of coffee and snuggling under a warm blanket with her boyfriend.

The moment they were inside, Liv sighed happily at the sight of the stone fireplace and large television that was mounted above it. The living room was filled with leather couches and homey décor, smelling like fresh pinewood and a hint of cinnamon. The lights flooded the open kitchen and living area, and the heat kicked on almost immediately to ward off the freezing temperatures outside.

Mid-January and the winter showed no signs of stopping. But, she was grateful. Bad weather, plus the slow season was the only reason they had enough temp detectives and officers to work whatever cases may have cropped up while they were away. It worked out perfectly, between Dodds feeling generous and mother nature dumping it's cold fury on the state of New York.

She only looked around for a brief moment before she grabbed Rafael's hand and quickly ushered him past the kitchen and down a small hallway, while the others went in search of their own rooms. She would have time to explore later.

* * *

 "Nice digs," Fin whistled, dropping his and Rita's bags by the door to their suite. He wasn't sure about this trip in the beginning, he had to be honest. Rita was the one that goaded and talked him into it, easily working around his excuses for not going, just like she always did.

They'd been dating for six months and already, she knew him better than he knew himself.

"Thank God we have our own bathroom. There's no way I'm sharing one with four other people."

Rita kissed his cheek as she breezed by, bag of toiletries in her hand and prepared to fully unpack. They would be here for an entire week, and while the cabin was big enough for everyone to have their own space, he still wasn't really sure about spending an entire week cooped up in the snow, in the middle of nowhere New York with people he saw day in and day out.

Of course, it could have been worse. He could be stuck behind a desk by himself with a bunch of temp detectives all looking to him to guide them through their cases. Plus, the company wasn't bad up here. At least he knew them and they knew him.

"Aw, shit," Fin sighed, rummaging through his own toiletry bag and realizing he hadn't brought his toothbrush. The one thing his girl reminded him about and he forgot it. Honestly, he wasn't quite sure what he was doing before, living the bachelor life. Sure, he was free to do what he pleased, and living committed to someone else hadn't ever been on his list of priorities, but now that he had Rita, it was like he was suddenly aware of the fact that he was living like crap before.

"What is it?"

"I forgot my toothbrush."

"No," she slipped out of the bathroom and across to their bed, his toothbrush in her hand as she dropped a hairbrush and a bottle of lotion on night stand, "I remembered. I knew you wouldn't, that's why I reminded you three times before we left and then got it for you myself."

This woman was a Godsend.

"You know me better than I know my damn self."

She winked and walked back to the bathroom, hips swaying like she knew that was what he was focused on. He chuckled to himself and sat down on the mattress, grabbing his laptop and quickly booting it up. They had all agreed that work would be left in the city, but he knew for a fact that each one of them wouldn't hold themselves to it.

Barba and Rita had two cell phones to keep up with all of their work and Liv was a Lieutenant, virtually on call all day, every day. Amanda and Carisi were the same, but they had less paperwork than he had, that was for damn sure. Somedays, he wondered if taking the Sergeant's exam was worth it. Those were only in times of extreme stress, where he questioned whether or not he could handle this job anymore.

"Babe," Rita called from the bathroom, the sound of clothing hitting the floor and heels sliding out from the doorway. Fin's eyebrow raised and he turned with interest as her head popped out, hair hanging loosely and her exposed shoulders greeting him. That sultry smirk he loved seeing was all he needed for his feet to start moving. He slid the laptop off his lap and quickly made his way to the doorway, finding a glorious sight he'd been hoping to see since they arrived.

"We've been here ten minutes," he smiled, eyes traveling the length of her naked body as she leaned over the large tub and turned the knobs. The water was strong and echoed in the bathroom as it began to fill up, and Rita turned on him with a smile that meant he better lock the door behind him.

* * *

 "Hey, hey! No way! You can't get both quilts. I'm gonna freeze my ass off over here," Carisi gestured wildly towards the pull-out couch, looking extremely unappealing with only one pillow and a very thin sheet. Amanda hid her amusement and chucked one of the thick quilts towards him, ignoring his thank you as she jumped across the queen size bed, already feeling the stress from the drive up leaving her body.

She hadn't drove but having to listen to Carisi's crappy 80's new wave music (because he refused to listen to her 70's folk and R&B) gave her the biggest headache she could ever remember having. Beyond that, she'd missed her baby girl the moment they left the city and while she was grateful she had an amazing nanny and Carisi's sister volunteered to take her half the time, it didn't make her miss her little girl any less.

She'd grown so used to juggling work and taking care of her child, with the occasional date sprinkled in here and there, that she wasn't sure about what she was going to do now that those duties were off her chest for an entire week. Though, she would have much preferred this week be spent on a sandy beach.

"I deserve to have two quilts since I'm going to have deal with you snoring every night for a week," she looked up in time to see him roll his eyes and flop down on his own 'bed', pulling a couple of board games out of one of the large duffel bags he'd packed. He was a game night fanatic, and she would admit that she'd gotten into them, too. She encouraged his plans to have a big, pseudo-family game night, complete with plenty of junk food and alcohol to kick start their vacation.

"Yeah, you don't hear me complaining about your sleep-talking."

"I'm not letting you sleep over anymore."

Carisi scoffed, knowing she was full of shit. He was basically turning out to be Jesse's father, with the little girl getting to see him, sometimes, more often than her. He was privy to babysitting duties, when he'd camp out on her couch, in her apartment and she was stuck at the office, working a late shift on a case she'd picked up.

She was grateful for him being in their lives like that. When he first started, she didn't think he'd last this long. He didn't seem equipped to handle sex crimes, because it took a certain type of person, but he quickly proved himself, becoming a valuable asset to their team and, also, a valuable friend. Hell, he was more like family now.

"I'm starving," he groaned, flopping back against the mattress with a huff. She sat up and rolled on her back, leaning against the puffy pillows. She quickly dug a few out from under the down comforter and tossed them at the man, hitting him square in the face with one.

"I say we go ransack the convenience store we saw just a mile back. Stock up on some snack cakes and beer?"

"What are ya, a frat brother now?"

"I'm on vacation. So, shut up and put your coat back on."

* * *

 "This room is huge," Rafael dropped his bag by the dresser in the room, eyebrows knit together in fascination of the sprawling, ground floor bedroom. The king size bed looked luxurious and the whirlpool bath tub that peaked out from the doorway bathroom looked way too inviting.

"It's the biggest in the cabin. I made sure we got it," she smiled, opening her coat and draping it across the bed. It looked so good and ready to be used, but she didn't want to take a nap just yet. She wanted to start up a fire and grab a glass of wine in the living room and cuddle with her man.

"God, I love you," he sighed dreamily, "Especially when you scheme."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him, enjoying the soft chuckle spilling from her throat as his lips trailed down her neck and his hands traveled lower down her body. She felt the familiar ache between her legs, but she wanted to refrain from that as well. There was no way she was having sex in the middle of the day with four other colleagues spread throughout the place.

"Mmm, as much as I'd love to do you right now, I want to save it for later when we're drunk and have an excuse to use the hot tub outside."

Rafael pulled back and looked at her with desire, shaking his head a bit, "How did I get so lucky?"

She rolled her eyes and pulled back from him completely, intent on getting some of her belongings unpacked. Rafael stood behind her, hands on her hips as she pulled a few clothing items from her suit case and enjoying him being near. It had been a while since they'd just been together alone. Even though there were four other people in the house, having their own separate room in such a serene, remote location, with the pretty snow falling down all around them, was beyond relaxing.

All the stress she'd been feeling back home was gone now. With a simple change of location and the smell of her boyfriend's cologne seeping into the air around her, it amazed her how all her troubles were gone. She only wished Noah could have gone.

"You're going to need luck when I mow your ass over during Monopoly tonight."

"Please," he laughed, "You'll have three glasses of wine and be falling asleep on my lap by time we even start the game."

He was probably right, but he didn't need to know that.

Liv quickly moved about the room, shoving their clothes into the wooden dresser while Rafael stood near the bay window and tapped away on his phone. The e-mails were overflowing in his inboxes and she couldn't ask him not to think about work, when she planned on, at some point today, answering work e-mails herself. Heavy lies the crown when you have a group full of workaholics with careers that required constant attention.

"We have a back-up generator, right?"

Lived hummed in response, "Good, because this storm is not letting up."

She peeked out one of the windows on her side of the room, seeing the harsh winds pick up. The forest looked particularly eerie, with tall, dark trees towering over their cabin. They looked like dark lines through the dusting snow flying past the window and she shuddered as a cold chill ran down her spine. She needed that fireplace, STAT.

"The last thing I want is the power to go out while we're in the middle of bumfuck New York."

Rafael tossed his phone on the bed and yawned, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her body. She smiled when he shoved his face into her neck and inhaled her scent. It was a move he always pulled when he was trying to calm down, usually after hard day at work or when he was so damn angry about a suspect or how a trial went. She was his anchor just like he was hers.

"I'm going to go grab a drink and avoid everyone. Want to come with?"

Liv threw the last of the clothing in the dresser and let him lead her out of the room, their fingers laced and narrowly avoiding Carisi and Amanda breezing past them, and barely listening to their muttered explanation of where they were headed to in the middle of a snow storm.

Liv only nodded, to intent on seeking out the open bar and helping Rafael start a fire.

* * *

 "All I'm saying is, I think it's time they settle down. Or at least move in with each other!"

"Barba practically lives there already. The other day, I heard Noah call him daddy through the phone."

"Shut up," Carisi waved her off with his free hand, his other too loaded down with chips and cookies. Amanda dutifully held a basket full of beer, a couple bottles of wine and a few liters of soda as the perused the aisles for more stuff. The store was abandoned save for the teenage cashier, probably because of the raging snow storm outside.

"Pretty sure those two are as about as serious as a heart attack. We should be talking about Fin and Rita. Never knew that woman had a compassionate bone in her body."

"It's a great body," Carisi smirked and Amanda stopped him, ready to hear the juicy bit of info he was about to tell her. She felt a bit bad that they were so intrigued by the relationships of others, but they had been shipping these people together for quite some time. Carisi fangirled when he found out Liv and Barba had become a thing and he almost fainted when Fin started dating Rita. She blamed him for getting her so involved in their own version of a reality television show.

"I went by Fin's apartment a couple of weeks ago to drop off his coat he left in my car and Rita answered the door in a nightie."

"No."

"Apparently, he was still at the precinct and she was trying to surprise him and wasn't expecting it to be someone else. Got more of a view than I bargained for. Then, she took his coat and threatened to kill me if I ever mentioned it to anyone else."

"It took you this long to tell me," Amanda glared at him, letting him dump a few items into her basket as they continued in their shopping.

"She's scary! Fin thought it was hilarious."

"Well…she does do Pilates three days a week."

"I can tell."

They quickly walked the length of the store and dropped their basket on the cashier's counter, earning a loud sigh and a not-so-nice glance towards them in general. They stood silently as the kid checked them out, until a flashing news report caught their attention on the small television playing in the corner, next to a half-eaten plate of old pizza.

… _police, at this time, have not made any arrest, but they urge citizens in remote locations to take precaution. The seventh body has yet to be identified._

Amanda cocked her head and moved closer to see the picture better, noticing a few of the smaller cabins making up the background of a previous news report, with police tape surrounding a snowy, dug out section next to the forests that sat behind the luxury cabins.

They'd passed plenty of them on the drive up, noticing little to no signs of human life out there, which was unusual for this time of year. Even at the travel agency office, where they picked up the set of keys for the cabin, they made mention of the peculiarity of so many cabin openings.

Well, now they knew why.

Amanda elbowed Carisi and nodded to the television news report just as the chiming of the bell above the convenience store door swung open. Amanda stepped back a little, feeling the ice cold breeze blow back her hair and locking eyes with a scraggly dressed man, hunched over and staring at her with the most hated gaze she'd ever encountered.

Carisi paid them no mind, eyes still on the news report and commenting on what she'd discovered just a few minutes prior. Meanwhile, Amanda looked away from the old man, facing forward and trying to rid herself of the creepy shiver slithering up her spine, feeling his eyes on her the entire time he walked past.

Only when he was far enough away did she lean around Carisi and take another glance at him, eyes widening when she saw he was still watching her.

"49.58."

Amanda reached for the fifty-dollar bill in her pocket and slapped it on the counter, gathering the bags quickly, much to her partners confusion.

"Let's get out of here," she mumbled, ignoring her friend's question as he waited patiently for the change. She didn't wait; she booked it out of the store and began to trudge through the snowy parking lot towards their car. She didn't shake the feeling until they were back in the cabin and joining Liv and Barba in the living room, around the fire.

* * *

  **NIGHT 1**

"Hold up, hold up," Fin took a seat next to Rita, passing her her glass of wine and snatching the hat game piece straight out of Liv's hand. She batted at him with her free hand.

"I'm always the hat piece," she argued, taking a sip of her mixed drink. She usually wasn't a fan of hard liquor, but she was in a good mood, as was her already tipsy boyfriend, and she would need it to get through what was probably going to be a rowdy game of Monopoly.

"I have to be the hat piece. It brings me luck," Fin winked, grabbing his paper money and quickly counting it. She could already tell he was going to take the game too seriously, as funny as that was. She just rolled her eyes and grabbed up the thimble piece with a bit of disdain.

It was still a little light outside and their dinner had been freshly cooked by a very talented Rita and Carisi, followed by nothing but shop talk, which was what she had been wanting to avoid, but she should have known better.

"As long as I get to be the boot, I don't care," Amanda came to sit down next to Liv, placing a tray of cookies and bottle of wine down in front of the board game. Liv smirked and leaned into Rafael, who ran his hand up her thigh and sent her a warning look over his glass. She was eager for this game night to be done with, because that jacuzzi was calling their names.

"Now, now, Lieutenant, behave yourself."

Liv wanted to pout but she removed herself from his side and almost groaned when his hand slipped off her leg. Her eyes met Rita's over the table and she nearly blushed when she realized that the couple on the other loveseat had been watching them the entire time.

This was going to be a long game…

* * *

 The day quickly descended into nightfall and their first day of their group vacation was actually, much to Rafael's surprise, quite fun. He wasn't big into board games, but with a belly full scotch and junk food, he couldn't help but laugh at the stupid jokes and stories everyone was telling as their game came to a close.

By the time they were done, Monopoly still sat on the floor, Amanda and Carisi were passed out in their room, Fin and Rita were on the couch in the living room, watching a movie and he and Liv had escaped to the enclosed, heated porch on the other side of the cabin, where the hot tub sizzled and bubbled around their bodies.

_This_ was what a vacation was supposed to be. His beautiful girlfriend in his lap, their naked bodies pressed together as their tongues entwined and those sweet, little moans greeted his own growls. He was having more fun than he originally thought he would, but then again, alcohol and the promise of jacuzzi sex aided in helping him come to terms with his shared vacation time.

Liv dragged her hips against his as she detached her lips and nipped at his shoulder, his hands grabbing her body and pressing her impossibly closer to his. He sighed happily, his closed eyes opening just the slightest in the dimly lit room. His green orbs traveled to the door, where the blinds were drawn, double checking they didn't have any peeping toms on their hands.

He dragged his gaze back across the windows of the enclosed porch, seeing the drifting snow blowing past as the harsh wind still ravaged the outside world. He was quite glad it was snow storming outside, because God forbid any one would have followed up on the suggestion they go out and make snowmen. Rafael Barba didn't do snowmen.

Well…only for a certain little boy back home, but other than that, hell no.

He chuckled to himself and dragged his hands up and down her back, his own lips coming to kiss and suck at the skin of her neck and collarbone while she was still busy with his neck. If she wasn't careful, she was going to end up giving him a hickey, and that wasn't going to fly-

There was a loud thumping noise that broke them out of their lusty hazes, Liv almost sliding off his lap, but his strong arms kept her from doing so. She gripped his shoulders and sat up a little, looking around the room for any sign of an intruder. Of course, he chose to look back at the closed door, but saw no one there.

"What the hell was that?"

He didn't answer her, but after a few more seconds of searching, he sighed and gave up, lips attaching themselves to her neck, "Probably something outside. An animal."

"That was pretty loud for an animal," she mumbled, running one of her hands up his neck and into his hair.

"Less worry, more kissing," he whispered, kissing her jaw and her chin, before capturing her lips with his. He smiled into the kiss when she finally relaxed again, grabbing one of his hands and gliding it up her side to her chest.

The sound was the furthest thing from his mind as she slipped down onto him, effectively cutting off any further coherent thoughts in his mind. All that existed in his world was him and her and the angry snow storm outside.

But, unbeknownst to him, just outside of the cabin, tucked away in the unlit backyard where the drifting snow flittered around in the harsh winds, stood three people in thick winter coats, watching…and waiting…


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Lol, I'm having a lot of fun with this story. It's meant to be creepy and funny, so sorry if it seems like a weird mix. I'm just messing around with a lot of different themes with this one. Hope you guys are enjoying it!

**DAY 2**

Carisi woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating on the floor by his bed.

He rubbed his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows, his aching back making him groan. He could hear the soft snores of Amanda, sprawled out across the entirety of the luxurious looking queen size bed. Grumbling, he reached blindly for his phone and snatched it up, eyes squinted as the light from the screen lit up in his face.

It took him a second to adjust to the blinding light to see that it was an incoming phone call and he swiped it without hesitation, muttering a greeting into the phone as he pushed his head back into the pillow. When no answer came, he spoke again, a bit louder, but all he received was the sound of rushing wind and static before the call dropped.

Carisi sighed and dropped his phone back on the ground, pulling himself together to stand up and stretch and pop his back. He was far too hungover to be dealing with anything other than a hot shower and the thought of pancakes and coffee.

He could smell them both wafting through the crack underneath the bedroom door and he stumbled through the dark, tripping over his bag twice just to get to the door. He really needed to unpack.

Proceeding out into the living room, he found Fin and Rita already dressed for the day ahead, looking fresh and crisp and like they hadn't been drinking with the rest of them the night before. How they managed to do that, he wasn't sure, because he was sure by the looks they both gave him, his hair was sticking up and his shirt was twisted around his body.

"Morning sunshine," Fin greeted cheerily, sipping on his coffee as Rita tutted around the kitchen, wearing an apron and looking way more domestic than she should in a cream dress and red heels. How she could easily pull off housewife and power attorney was beyond him.

"My head feels like it weighs a ton."

"You drank a six-pack of wine coolers," Rita quipped, pouring more batter onto the griddle. The sizzling and popping of the mixture was slowly but surely waking him out of his daze and soon enough, after a huge cup of black coffee downed in ten seconds flat, Amanda came shuffling out with one of those thick quilts wrapped around her body.

"Jeez, not you, too," Fin said over a mouthful of bacon. Rita slapped his hand when he reached for another piece, obviously having had to do it before if the warning look she sent him was any indication.

"You made those screwdrivers too strong. Besides, since I had Jesse my tolerance has gone way down."

She took a cup of the steaming hot liquid offered up by Carisi, who was doing well enough to maneuver around the cooking woman without bumping into her. He was tempted to jump in and help her, but Rita wasn't one to accept help in her domain. He quickly learned that last night, when she gave verbally stripped him of any honor and dignity he had when he accidentally bumped into her.

It wasn't even a bump…more like a gentle tap with his shoulder. In any case, he knew the boundaries he wouldn't be accidentally crossing again. It must have been a lawyer thing, because when he accidentally backed into Barba one day during a recess, his life almost flashed before his eyes at the withering glare the man sent him.

"Pretty sure your tolerance was shit before…," Fin trailed, took a sip from his cup and chuckled, "Remember the Christmas party? You-"

"Got a little too frisky with Santa in the break room. And you and Rita left early because you guys were 'tired' and Barba and Liv pretty much got it on in her office and Carisi passed out in the interrogation room with no pants on. I swear I've heard this story way too many times in the past couple weeks for it to be ok."

"I love that story," Fin argued and reached over swiftly to grab the piece of bacon he'd been trying to get before as soon as Rita turned to the sink."

"I don't," Carisi pouted.

"Why?"

"He's jealous I made out with Steve who was dressed up as Santa and he got stuck with Michelle from Computer Crimes under the mistletoe," Amanda explained, giggling to herself. That was one of the only parts that made her laugh, but every other part of the story could go die. She had gotten so drunk that night, she had a headache for two straight days.

"She's nice," Fin pointed out but Carisi waved it off.

"She has a boyfriend and they've been together for eight years. He enjoyed it way too much when she kissed me, I'm telling you."

"Steve…," Fin trailed, "From Evidence?"

"That's him."

"Huh," he sent Carisi a contemplative look, "Didn't think that was your type. Thought you were more into lawyers."

Carisi furrowed his brow as he took his seat next to Amanda, "Why would you think that?"

"Coulda swore I saw you checkin' out Barba when you first started."

The sentence made him choke on his fresh cup of coffee and Amanda had to stifle a laugh when she saw his cheeks burning bright red. She patted him on his back as he coughed roughly and avoided everyone's eyes.

"Don't worry," she reassured him, "I boned him once in a dream."

"I boned him once in real life," Rita threw in to the conversation, making Fin shake his head. He, of course, knew about that little detail, but that still didn't mean he wanted to hear it. Imagining it made him want to hurl.

* * *

Liv yawned, hearing the muffled sounds of chatter coming from the kitchen, but she was content to stay in bed with Rafael's face buried in her neck.

He was wrapped around her like a snake, still asleep as she read through some of her e-mails and responded back the best she could with his body halfway on top of hers. She didn't want to wake him, because his sleep schedule was a complete wreck during the work week and sleeping in on a Monday morning was damn near taboo for him.

They hadn't gotten in from the hot tub until well after 1 a.m., taking their sweet time and advantage of the late hour to truly enjoy one another. It was nice, knowing they weren't on a schedule or that they had to be up for work meetings and all the other stuff that came with their jobs.

She read through a few more of the e-mails before she called it quits and plopped the phone back down on the night stand, feeling like she could doze off until her boyfriend decided he was done using her as a pillow. But, she opened her eyes and lifted her head when she saw her purse, tipped over on the floor and its contents spilled across the hardwood.

She furrowed her brow, remembering having left her bag on top of the dresser rather than on it. Besides that, her purse stood up perfectly on its own, with a flat bottom designed for such a purpose. That was entire reason she bought it to begin with…

Rafael groaned and lifted his head, taking her attention away from the oddity to completely focus on him. She giggled and smoothed down some of his hair that was sticking straight up on the side of his face. He yawned and stretched, but he didn't leave her side and only snuggled further into her, tightening his arm about her waist.

"I think they made breakfast."

"Sleep is more important."

She hummed in response, hand slipping its way underneath his thick hoodie he wore to bed to trail her fingernails over his bare skin. He shivered in response and opened his eyes, his lashes fluttering against her neck.

"I just want to imagine we're alone for another few minutes. But, I will require coffee. I have a slight headache from all the scotch I drank last night."

Liv was surprised herself that she hadn't woken with a headache, having been probably the most drunk out of everyone. There was another reason she didn't like to drink liquor: it was way too easy to consume too much.

"Mmm. I could always sneak out and bring us some breakfast in bed, but I think it would be mean if we didn't join everyone."

He yawned again, "I know you're right and I hate it a little."

She mulled over the idea a little more, ultimately deciding that it was best if they made an appearance. Besides, it sounded like Rita made some mean chocolate chip pancakes if Amanda's surprised exclamation was any indicator.

"Besides, the sooner we get out there and eat, the sooner we'll be able to come back in here and have some more private Liv and Raf time."

"…I like that idea…but I'm not changing out of my pajamas."

"Is it bad that it's unusual for me to see you fully dressed in bed?"

A chuckle erupted from him as he turned over and rolled off of her, rubbing his eyes while she sat up fully and stretched. She could smell the delicious breakfast scents growing stronger and her stomach rumbled in response. Her intentions of sliding out of bed, throwing on a robe and slippers and heading out to join the others was dashed when her boyfriend pulled her down on top of him, arms locked around her waist and his lips on hers.

She hummed and pulled back, "Breakfast, remember?"

"That's what I'm doing," he paused to lick her collar bone, "I'm having my breakfast."

Five minutes was all the time she gave him before she had to give into her hunger. They walked down the hall, cuddled together to fight off the chill and walked into what could only be described as a salacious conversation. All she heard was the word 'dick' before they were spotted and everyone immediately shut up. Fin looked incredibly happy to see them finally joining them and invited them over to the wooden dining room table where the food sat steaming on big platters.

"Look who finally decided to crawl outta bed."

"Yeah, yeah," she blew her old friend off and took a seat next to Carisi, who was intently focused on the keeping the maple syrup dripping from his pancakes away from his eggs, "What's on the agenda for today? Anyone have any plans?"

"There's that huge mall just a few miles into town. I was going to get some shopping done while we're out here," Amanda suggested. Liv liked the sound of that and by the looks of it, her boyfriend liked it as well. Rafael liked to shop, but his taste in shopping had slowly moved away from shopping for himself to shopping for her and Noah.

They had an uneventful breakfast followed by some lazy coffee drinking and news watching, lounging around in their pajamas (minus Fin and Rita) for a good two hours before they were ready and dressed for their unanimously decided upon outing.

But, of course, they had to run into a road block.

"Can you help me?"

Fin rolled his eyes and stepped out of the car, checking out the wheels shoved deep into the snow. That's what they get for vacationing in the middle of one of their worst winters yet. He let Rita step into the driver's seat before they began to push, only able to move the car a little bit. He spotted Barba from the porch, busy typing on his phone and he yelled over to the man, catching the sour look he sent them.

"Mind helping?"

"I do, in fact," he said, loud enough for them to hear it, but he pocketed his phone and moved past Liv and Amanda, who stood on the porch swapping pictures of Jesse and Noah on one of the several play dates the two shared.

"Move it," he pushed his way in the sliver of space between Fin and Carisi, and the three were able to push the car out of the divot it found itself buried in. Rafael almost slipped and ruined his expensive jeans and he glowered as Rita chuckled from inside the car, taking too much joy in seeing him doing anything close to manual labor.

She pulled the car out of the driveway and stopped, waiting for Fin and Carisi and Amanda to hop in the SUV and took in the clear winter's day. The roads were packed with snow and it would take them a bit more time than it usually should to get to this little mall, but she didn't mind. She was eager to do the one thing she always loved doing but never really had the leisure time for: shopping.

She was a great shopper, too. Plus, this mall had quite a few high-end, luxury stores, including one of her favorite lingerie boutiques. Rita smiled to herself, already making plans as her eyes scanned the pine tree riddled horizon. Out of the corner of her, she saw a movement far off in the distance, and she could just barely make out the visible forms of hunched over bodies, trudging their way into the tree lines.

She furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes, trying to see better and leaning into the window. Her breath puffed against the window, creating a fog and just as she was about to turn away, Fin's face appeared, blocking her eyesight from the trees and scaring the hell out of her. Rita sighed, placing her hand over her heart as the door opened.

"You scared the living shit out of me," she growled, turning her bare legs away from the cold. She was seriously regretting wearing this dress, but she looked way too good not to.

"Sorry. You driving or you want me to?"

"Well, I'm already here so I might as well. Hey, babe," she pointed around him, leaning back to look behind his burly body blocking her view, "Did you see any one over there? I saw some people."

Fin glanced behind him but shrugged, "Probably hikers."

"It's 10 degrees out here."

Fin just shrugged it off, but Rita felt a cold eeriness settle in her gut as Fin shut the door and walked around the front of the car. She immediately tried to find the spot she was looking at before, but all she could see in front of her was snow covered ground and pine trees lining the town just a few miles away.

"Move your long legs," Amanda grunted from the backseat, and the car rocked around them as Carisi dropped into the seat directly behind her, mumbling something under his breath. Rita sighed and looked away from the tree line and watched Fin climb in next to her with a big smile on her face. She smiled back and shook off the feeling, mind already focusing on the hours of leisure shopping she was about to enjoy.

**NIGHT 2**

Their shopping excursion lasted practically the entire day and they were still full from the group dinner they had at one of the restaurants inside of the mall. They made it back just before the sun set with their plethora of purchases, enjoying the cozy fire going in the living room. Everyone was in a joyous mood, happy with the relaxed and easygoing atmosphere the cabin was filled with.

Everyone except Rafael, who sat grumpily on the loveseat opposite the sofa and staring at Carisi with a sour look.

"Excuse me if I don't feel like sitting around a fire singing fucking Kumbaya," Rafael ground out, feet propped up on the coffee table with a cold drink in his hand. Carisi threw his hands up in the air, obviously frustrated with the man's inability to be a team player. Although, everyone should have known by now the man wasn't.

"It's charades, not karaoke. Jesus, you'd think you'd loosen up some on vacation."

Fin chuckled from the couch next to Rita, who was busy typing away on a computer, her glasses perched on her nose and a serious look on her face. But, she cracked a smile when Fin's chuckles grew into full on laughter and he leaned against her.

"Hey, let's not fight," Liv slid down on the sofa next to Rafael, passing him his glass of scotch. Rafael rolled his eyes at Carisi, who flopped down on the couch and pulled out the television remote, shuffling through the channels.

"Calm down," Liv mumbled and grabbed his free hand. He was being grumpier than usual, he knew, but he was still pissed about his lost phone and the fact that these people were trying to rope him into doing these stupid little games when he should be getting some work done and spending alone time with her.

He didn't even know how he could have lost it in the first place. It was practically attached to his hand at all times, day and night and he was finding it hard to not believe someone had snuck into their room and swiped it as a joke. He was placing bets on Rita, because only she could really know how important a lawyer's phone was to him.

But, she was denying everything. He thought maybe Liv had done it, but she was more focused on him relaxing rather than him working himself into a frenzy. Carisi was the most likely, but then again, he knew it was a death sentence to touch any of his things, so that was ruled out almost immediately.

That meant he was out of ideas on where it could have been. Their room was ripped to shreds with the device nowhere in sight. Liv even helped him look, but they had quickly become distracted with a video call from his mother's phone and Noah demanding they talk to him for at least an hour.

"We'll find it. You had it on the way back from the mall, so it's somewhere in here."

He nodded, feeling bad when she tried to give him a reassuring look. He knew he was bringing her mood down and he vowed, then and there to put an end to his bad attitude. He'd been in a relatively good mood all day and this sudden shift in attitude was irritating for her.

"Maybe no charades…how about truth or dare?"

"I vote no," Liv said immediately, not exactly trusting those around her. She shivered and leaned into Rafael's side, who noticed the action.

"Need your sweater?"

"Yeah," she smiled as he kissed her cheek and excused himself. She knew he was using the opportunity to go look for his missing phone yet again, but she was on the brink of the interrogating everyone in the room about it anyway. He was driving her nuts with his fretting and the sooner he found it, the better for everyone.

Rafael

He stopped and turned his head down the darkened hallway, the noise alerting him to a single doorway just inches away from the large window showcasing the falling snow outside. He slowly walked that way, his ears perked as he came to a stop just outside of it, realizing what he was hearing.

The soft buzzing noise was recognizable and he opened the door, revealing a darkened stair case with the soft glow of light revealing the bottom of the steps. He stood there, unsure when the buzzing stopped and listened to the stark silence that greeted him. For a moment, he thought about turning back and rechecking the rooms, but the familiar chiming of a missed call notification told him he was in the right place.

He looked back down the hall and then sighed as he began walking down the concrete steps, descending into darkness the further he got. He wasn't in it for long, as a single lightbulb hung from the ceiling, a ring of light illuminating the cracked concrete floor with an old, tore up armchair sitting in the middle. There was a wooden end table that sat next to it with a…?

Rafael surged forward, seeing his phone sitting in the middle. He felt a chill sweep over him as soon as he grabbed it and his eyes searched the surrounding darkness when he heard the faintest rustling of cloth.

He stood there, looking around wildly, but he didn't venture out of the light. Not until there was a sudden click up above him and the entire basement lit up. Liv calling his name was drowned out by his fight or flight instincts kicking in and he high-tailed it back up the stairs, his feet thumping rapidly up the stairs without looking back. He nearly bowled Liv over as he shot out of the doorway and back into the hallway.

"Oh!"

Liv grabbed on to him as he propelled them back into the opposite wall, yelping and cursing as her head body cushioned their tumble.

"Jesus," she cursed, teeth clenched as she reached behind her head and rubbed the spot where it banged into the wall. Rafael let go of her and shut the door behind him, looking visibly shaken and holding his cell phone in his hand. He stood there, trying to calm himself down before he hissed.

"Shit, I'm sorry. You scared the living hell out of me," he sighed, double checking that she was ok and pulling her into his body. Liv waved it off and nodded at his hand.

"Where did you find it?"

"Uh…down there…on a table…"

"Why was it down there?"

"I have no idea why but if this is some prank I'm going to murder one of them," he nodded down the hall towards the living room. His dead serious look was met with an eye roll and Liv wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I'm sure they meant no harm. C'mon, you've been so wound up being out here. I know you don't like group activities but can you please participate once and a while? For me?"

Her bottom lip puffed out, a childish move but one that worked all the same. She knew he couldn't say no to her, but she also knew he would hate it every step of the way. Alas, he had been quite the uptight asshole, even being away from the city and out of court, so he would try and join in on the games and outings as much as possible, if only for her sake.

"Fine. But I don't want them touching my stuff again because there will be hell to pay."

"I don't doubt that," she giggled, hugging him and pressing a kiss to his neck, "Now let's go. We're all having a scary movie night."

"Good, something I like."

Liv kissed his lips and walked back down the hall and he followed her, but he stopped and looked back at the door, the creepiest feeling slithering up his back when he looked back at the empty space. He shivered and turned away and pocketed his phone, intent on enjoying the rest of his night, now that he had it back.

* * *

Down below, in the darkened basement, a gloved hand reached up and the burning light bulb was extinguished, draping the concrete room in pitch black. They moved around deftly, their eyes adjusted to the darkness and their body easily moving with familiarity.

" _We almost got caught."_

" _But we didn't."_

" _We have a plan. Stick to it."_

" _We are…"_

" _We move again after they go to bed."_

" _Yes, sir."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm going to throw in a trigger warning just in case for this chapter. For anyone who thought everyone was going to get out of this fic unscathed............you should know better. Shit is about to get real guys! Hope you all don't hate me by the end of this chapter. I don't own SVU or any of the characters. ENJOY.

**DAY 3**

Rita smirked as Fin sat up weakly in bed, naked and slack jawed.

She really outdid herself this time. Waking him up at nearly three in the morning just because she was in the mood and then thoroughly blowing him away with mind numbing pleasure? She wasn't sure what it was, whether it be the fresh air or the fact the need to feel the heat between them with the cold temperature outside, but she welcomed the change in attitude.

She'd been so down in the dumps before they left the city, truly feeling the weight of the work she did on her shoulders. It was normal, to feel that kind of pressure, but a tough few cases during the holiday season had really dampened her mood and Fin, despite his best efforts, just wasn't enough to bring her out of the funk. That's why, when Fin mentioned something about Amanda and Carisi wanting to suggest a group trip to Liv, she goaded the man into it until he caved.

She'd been so excited, needing the vacation and alone time with her man, without the burdens of the city and her office back home. Even though she knew walking into this she would spending alone time with four other people, she still was enjoying herself immensely.

Plus, middle of the night sex was really fun and she was definitely going to be trying it more often.

"I think you broke me," Fin's voice was rough still with sleep and she took great pleasure seeing him shuffle towards the bathroom, eyes half-lidded. She didn't bother stifling her proud giggle when he accidentally bumped into the dresser on the way in.

Instead, she turned and cuddled into her pillow, content to not even bother putting clothes on. She was happy they didn't have plans for anything first thing in the morning, because she was going to sleep in until at least ten and eat whatever junk food had been bought by the two detectives asleep down the hall just a few days ago.

To hell with her diet. She was on vacation.

She dozed off in just a few minutes, thinking about all of the new shoes she'd bought at the day before, but jumped and woke to the sound of a loud thump.

"Come back to bed before you break something."

She expected to hear Fin mumble something incoherently and the bed to sink down on the other side, but the only thing she heard was the rushing water from the bathroom. The light was on under the door when she glanced over towards the bathroom and rolled her eyes, automatically assuming the noise was coming from their next-door neighbors.

"Giraffe legs," she mumbled and sunk back down into her pillow, the need for sleep pulling her back into her light slumber. She vaguely registered the sound of a door opening as she slipped further and further into nothingness, but before she could, there was a sudden presence to her left and a cold, icy finger running down her back.

She moved away from it and groaned, "Stop. I'm trying to sleep."

Rita shifted when the presence next to her didn't move and the cold fingertip returned its path down her back. She growled menacingly and turned around, the sheet falling down her chest, ready to lay into her boyfriend, but all she could see was a large, hulking figure, dressed in heavy clothing and thick, mangy beard.

It took her no more than a few seconds to register that this person wasn't Fin, nor anyone else in the cabin she knew. The scream that came out of her as she scrambled back towards the headboard prompted Fin to yell her name. The figure took off, running and disappearing out of the room and down the hall.

Rita screamed again when the bathroom door opened, revealing Fin in a towel with soap suds still on his body. He was at her side in an instant and, uncaring, she threw her arms around his shoulders, pulling herself to him and almost out of the bed. He was quick to hold her tight, heart thumping in his chest.

"What happened?"

Rita shook her head, breathing harshly and trying to keep her terrified tears at bay. She jumped when there was movement from next door and she felt Fin reach down and wrap the sheet around her back just as Carisi burst in, pistol poised and his hair covering his eyes. Amanda wasn't far behind, eyes looking around blearily but still alert.

"What's going on," Amanda asked, walking into the room. Upon seeing it was only Fin and Rita, Carisi lowered his gun and stepped back out into the hall, looking up and down the hall. There was a voice floating down from the other side of the cabin, but she recognized it as Liv.

"I-I saw someone," Rita said quietly, closing her eyes and tightening her hold around Fin's neck. He rubbed her back and shushed her as he felt her tears hit his skin. Liv appeared moments later as the light from the living room filtered down the darkened hallway.

"Can you guys give us a minute," Fin shooed them away, waiting until everyone cleared out to step back and comfort her. He'd been startled out of his shower and he was so uneasy, because Rita didn't cry. She was a strong woman, one of the strongest he knew and seeing her so freaked out and hearing her scream…

"I saw someone. I thought it was you but it wasn't…"

Fin took a deep breath and hurried into some boxers, sweat pants and a shirt. It took him a minute to shuck on some boots and a thick, winter coat. Rita watched from the bed, sheets wrapping up around her in her quivering hands. The tears still fell down her cheeks and her bottom lip trembled as she looked frantically around in every dark corner of the room.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to check the outside. If he was in here, Liv or Carisi or Amanda would have saw him and taken him down"

It was odd that they hadn't, if someone was in the room, but he wasn't doubting anything she saw. He'd only seen Rita cry twice in the time they'd been together, once when he surprised her in her office with some flowers and another time when she opened up about her past.

Both weren't tears out of fear. This was an entirely new emotion he was seeing from her.

"But- "

"C'mon. Put your robe on," he said softly, helping her into it. Rita cuddled into his side and lead her out of the room and down the hall. She kept her head down and accepted a pat on the back from Rafael, who stood closest to the couch. Carisi was already shoving his coat on with his thick gloves and hat. Fin accepted his help wordlessly and the two were outside in seconds, leaving plunging everyone else into the silence of the living room.

* * *

 They were back inside less than five minutes later, the snow drifting in with them. Carisi shivered and plucked his hat off his head, shaking his head and their silent question, but Liv asked anyway.

"Anything?"

"No tracks. Snow is too high to move fast through around the back."

Fin shook his head but Rita didn't look up. She sat, curled up on the couch next to Liv and Barba, who was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He sighed and pulled off his hat, checking the time. It was nearing four in the morning, but after that, he didn't feel like he could fall back asleep. He didn't think Rita would be going back to bed, either.

"Should we call the police?"

"We could. But, if this guy comes back, we'll be able to handle him. Let's not rush this. Rita," Liv gingerly patted the woman's shoulder, "Do you feel comfortable with that?"

Rita sighed heavily and nodded, fingers still playing with the tie of her robe. She felt stupid, knowing that they hadn't found any evidence of an intruder, and she began to even wonder if she really had seen that man standing above her bed. But, she knew she did, because she could still feel the cold finer dragging down her skin.

"Alright. Well...how about we all get some more rest and go out for breakfast? Yeah?"

Liv was met with a resounding yes before everyone separated, leaving Fin and Rita to themselves in the quiet space of. He sat down heavily next to her, elbows on his knees and looked at her until she cast him a glance.

"I know I saw someone."

"I know, I'm not doubting that. Are you ok?"

She shrugged a shoulder and set her feet on the ground, scooting in closer to his side. She didn't want to go back into the room and she wanted him to hold her, just to feel safe. Fin sat with her well into the morning, talking to her and telling her stories, doing his best just to make her laugh.

It wasn't long before they were out of the house and into a booth at a pancake house, passing around syrup and sweetener for their coffees. Liv watched as Rita picked at her plate, knowing the woman had to be hungry.

She wouldn't lie and say that she had been a little disturbed the rest of that morning, because she hadn't ever seen the usually stoic woman so distressed and afraid. She'd seen many people in that situation before; victims were jumpy, but she'd never witnessed such a strong person crumble like that.

She spent the rest of the morning staring at the ceiling, dozing here and there as Rafael was able to slip back into a deep sleep. He seemed a bit troubled, eyes distant and focused on nothing as they both sat in silence, but she didn't pry.

She was too focused on the weird things happening around the cabin the past few days. Some of her things had gone missing, including a pair of underwear, which she found to be odd and creepy. She searched high and low for them, and maybe she wouldn't have, if the picture of her son she carried around in her wallet hadn't gone missing, along with a bottle migraine medication she kept for Rafael.

She didn't question her boyfriend, because there was no reason for him to sneak around her belongings and take things from her. He didn't play around like that, despite his goofy nature, sometimes. She found it deeply concerning that when she took a shower, she felt like she was being watched. Rita being so shaken didn't make her feel any better. Not to mention the other night, when Rafael looked like he'd seen a ghost when he was down in the basement, where he found his missing phone.

Liv knew something was up; she could that something was wrong deep in her bones, but she was trying to quell her detective's instincts and enjoy her time off. If not for her, but for everyone else.

Rafael squeezed her thigh under the table, quietly asking if she was ok and she nodded with a forced smile, noticing the concern didn't leave his eyes. The rest of the table were talking with less enthusiasm than they had all week, keeping it low key as they enjoyed their food and company. Liv found Rita's eyes again, and she reached over and patted her hand, giving her some semblance of comfort.

Fin looked between the two and shared a look with Rafael, before they both turned away and gave them some space, joining Amanda's and Carisi's intense discussion on a case they'd had two years ago.

"I'm fine, Liv. I know what I saw and I know you all believe me…it just really scared me."

"We can still get a hold of the sheriff. According to the news this type of thing has been going on for a while. It might be our safest bet."

"What are they going to do that the four of you can't?"

She had a point. Rita was probably one of the safest people in this small town, with four cops always within reach. If something were to happen, they'd move quicker and more efficiently than the sheriff's office would.

"It'll be fine."

Rita assured her by taking a bit of the pancake she'd been avoiding eating and turned away from her, ending their conversation. Liv nodded, agreeing and then stood up to excuse herself to the restroom.

Halfway down the small hall to the restrooms, she bumped into a large, burly, bearded man, who didn't move an inch out of the way to let her pass. She looked up, eyes narrowed as he peered down at her over a bulbous nose and curled eyebrows. He looked every bit of menacing, more so than any criminal she'd face.

He wore thick clothing and his skin was red and dry, like he'd been out in the biting cold for hours.

"Excuse me," Liv said, turning to her side to try and slip by him, but he moved, cutting off the only sliver of room she had to get by. He grunted, hand pressing against the wall in front of her face and Liv took a step back, eyebrows knit in anger. He may have looked aggressive, but there was no way she was about to be intimidated.

"Can you get out of my way?"

The man said nothing, still peering down his nose at her. Liv set her jaw and narrowed her eyes, standing up straight. She stiffened when he leaned forward, getting closer to his face than she would have liked. She leaned back away from him, flinching as sniffed the air between them. A slow, creepy grin spread across his face and stood back up, readjusting the menacing look as his eyes flitted down the small hall.

"There a problem?"

Liv twitched when she felt Rafael's presence behind her, his hand landing on the small of her back. The man's eyes shifted towards him, dragging them down Rafael's entire figure before he huffed and pushed past them. They watched him round the corner, back out into the restaurant with a single, withering glare thrown over his massive shoulder. Rafael rubbed his hand up her back, "What was that about?"

"Nothing. Just some weirdo. Let's go," she grabbed his hand and pulled back towards their waiting table, where everyone was sipping coffee, feeling like they needed to be in a bigger group. Screw the bathroom…she could wait until they got back to the cabin.

She kept their fingers laced, drawing some reassurance from him as they drew themselves back into the conversation, putting her mind at ease, even though her eyes scoured the restaurant for the man and she couldn't find a trace of him.

She didn't want to jump the gun or make anyone worry, but Liv knew something was going on…and she felt like they were about to find out what is was…

**NIGHT 3**

Carisi relaxed back into the couch, feet kicked up on the coffee table and his pants unbuttoned to make room for his bloated stomach.

If he continued eating the way he had been this entire trip so far, he was going to have to buy new clothes when they got back to the city. Although, he was only going to concern himself with that until the night before they were set to leave back to real life. He wasn't particularly excited for that moment, because he hadn't been this relaxed in a while.

It was nearing ten and most everyone was in their own rooms, enjoying their time alone together or, in Amanda's case, reading that stupid romance novel she'd been dying to finish for the past five months. She kicked him out, claiming he was loud even when he was trying to be quiet, so he settled in to watch whatever he could find, and that happened to be the local news.

Certainly, it was less intimidating to watch then the local stations at home. Sometimes, he craved living in a small town environment like this, but he was too much of a city boy for it to ever work out.

_In other news, the investigation into the string of cabin murders over the past few weeks has come to a standstill. Lack of evidence and witnesses has forced Chief Aaron to reduce the number of investigators on the case and focus on other areas…_

He watched the story, unable to keep himself from thinking about earlier on in the morning and Rita's scream that woke him out of a dead sleep. His first instinct had been to grab his side arm that he had stashed in his duffel bag right next to his fold out bed. It was rude awakening and he'd been half asleep when he burst into Fin and Rita's room, he was surprised he hadn't accidentally started yelling at them to put their hands in the air.

He'd felt unsettled that entire day because of it, especially since he'd never seen Rita in such a state. Hunched over and arms wrapped around her body. She was usually so confident and stoic…seeing her terrified and jumpy put him on edge.

He hated to admit it, but he had thought that she may have thought she saw something, since the likelihood of someone breaking into the cabin and then fleeing before anyone else could get to him or even hear him was slim. But, he didn't voice his opinions, because it would only make things worse.

Carisi burped and flipped through the channels for what felt like the millionth time, scratching his stomach and wishing he'd brought his own stack of books to read. His only saving grace from boredom had been his video chat with his Jesse just an hour earlier. His sister was having a hell of a time with two babies around the apartment, but she was using it as a way to hint at her want for another baby with her husband.

Jesse was so cute, she was sure he would have another niece or nephew in no time flat.

"Oh hell yes," he murmured, his channel surfing bringing him to a rerun of one of his favorite reality television shows. The ranting and raving of the women on the screen made sleep pull at his eyes. With his belly full and the entire, comfortable sofa to himself, he dozed off, turning down the volume of the television.

* * *

 "I love you, too, baby. Goodnight."

Liv hit the end call button on her screen, a small smile on her face. Rafael smirked from the doorway of the bathroom, having listened in on the conversation between two of his favorite people in the world.

"I wish he were here," Liv pouted, bottom lip stuck out. She was thoroughly enjoying their time so far, despite earlier that morning, but having Noah around would have made it ten times better. She had vowed, along with Rafael, that the next vacation they would take would include the little boy. Although, as much as they both missed Noah, he was having the time of his life with Lucia and for that, she was happy.

"Next time. But, of course, that means less sex," he gave her body a once over, and she indulged him, slipping one of the straps of her nightie off her shoulder. Rafael crawled on the mattress over to her, hand slipping up the inside of her thigh as he settled himself straddling her legs.

She hummed when his lips landed on hers and then slowly trailed down her neck and shoulder. She leafed her fingers through his hair, enjoying the sensations his lips were causing her but that came to crashing halt when there was a loud popping noise from outside of their window.

"What was that?"

Liv sat up a bit and watched as Rafael climbed over the bed and peaked out of the curtains drawn over the window. Light from the moon split his face, his green eyes searching the outside of their side of the cabin. He could see the light from the porch bouncing off their vehicles and with so much white snow on the ground and road and the open field across from them, he could easily see the empty land stretched for miles.

"Probably an animal," he said, more to himself. He couldn't help but think of this morning, when he heard the terrified scream and felt Liv sliding out of bed. But, he also couldn't help but think about the night before, when he was down in the basement. He'd been replaying it over in his head all day.

The armchair. The table. The dangling light positioned perfectly over this phone…

"That's what you said the other night," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. He didn't say anything, and after one final sweep across the front of the house, he moved away from the window and faced Liv. She didn't look too convinced of his explanation.

He know he didn't either.

* * *

 Amanda yawned and closed her book, checking the time on her phone.

She'd made leaps and bounds in her book and she would more than likely finish it by the end of the week, which was what she was hoping for. She'd been slacking in her online book club, but with her busy job and Jesse, she rarely had time to ever sit down and read more than a few pages at a time.

She smiled at the thought of her little girl. She babbled incoherently and batted at the phone when she was on the video chat earlier when she saw her, but the little practically lit up when Carisi snatched the phone from her and shoved his face in the camera.

Amanda had been annoyed but she couldn't help but feel grateful. He was the father she feared Jesse wouldn't have and, surprisingly, Carisi had stepped into that role on his own. She remembered back to that fateful moment when Jesse had uttered the words 'Dada' instead of 'Mama' and the detective had lit up with the biggest smile on his face.

Some may have thought it was weird that this man, who had turned into one of her greatest friends, for whom she had no romantic feelings for (and who had no romantic feelings for her) was standing in as a father for her daughter, but Amanda didn't care.

Speaking of, Amanda slid out of the bed and shoved her feet in slippers, treading down the hall until she spotted Carisi's long legs hanging off the end of the couch. She briefly glanced at the television before she headed into the kitchen, intent on making a mug of hot chocolate before she went to sleep.

She turned on the sink and let the water run until it steamed and just as she was going to fill up one of the large coffee mugs, there was a loud popping noise from somewhere outside that made her jump. She turned just in time to see Carisi snort, one of his feet hitting the ground and forcing him awake.

Amanda hurried to one of the windows near the fireplace, forgetting the running water in favor of looking out into the empty backyard.

"What's wrong," he asked sleepily, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. Amanda shook her head, seeing nothing out in the backyard. She turned and opened her mouth, about to suggest he head to bed when the entire open kitchen and living room plunged into darkness. The sound of dead silence encompassed them for a mere few seconds until Carisi cursed and his feet hit the floor.

Loud footsteps stomped right by Amanda, and although she couldn't see anything, she could feel his presence stop right next to her.

"Where are you going?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

Amanda froze solid, hearing his familiar voice from the other side of the room still, but the presence behind her only grew warmer the closer it got. Her hands clenched into fists, "…where are you?"

"On the couch…," Carisi sounded confused, "…why?"

She swallowed hard, nails biting into her palms. She tried to think rationally, eyes shooting across the darkness for any sort of familiarity in the presence behind her. She felt none.

"Where's my phone…," she heard Carisi mumble, the rustling of fabric greeting her moments before a phone screen lit up his face, his eyebrows knit while he unlocked his phone. Two other doors opened and she could hear Liv down the hall, their footsteps sounding echoing in the silence of the room.

A warm breath blew in her ear and she jumped, her gasp locked in her throat as a hand traveled down her back. She was still frozen, even as other phone lights lit up around the group, Carisi, Liv, Barba, Fin and Rita stood by each other, confused in their sleepwear and cursing about the turn of events. All she could do was watch them, fear locking in her place. She could hear the leather before she felt it wrap around her throat and pull back.

She opened her mouth to scream, but the strap tightened and pulled her off her feet, and gloved hand slammed over her mouth, effectively cutting off any noise she could make. Her hands clawed the air, fighting for the escaping air leaving through her nose. Her feet kicked uselessly, hitting the hard legs behind her.

"Where's Amanda?"

"Over there," Carisi pointed in her general direction but no one pointed their light towards her, probably expecting her to join them. She desperately screamed in her head for help. Her shaky hands reached for her throat, wiggling her fingers between the strap and her skin.

Her nails clawed at the leather material, her feet still trying to find purchase on the wooden floor. The body behind her was cold and hot at the same time, searing the bare skin of her back where her shirt had ridden up. One hand flew behind her, feeling the scraggly hair of a man's beard and wet lips. A warm, wet tongue licked up the side of her hand and she flung it back, smack the man's nose with as much might as she could muster.

"The breaker is in the basement. Has to be."

"I'm not going down there."

"Well someone has to come with me."

Amanda felt hot tears slipping down her cheeks and her body tensed, her legs growing slack as the oxygen left her body. The strap tightened around her throat and the gloved hand fell from her mouth, leaving it gasping for air that wouldn't come.

Her small noises went unheard and the blood rushing through her ears almost drowned out the noises of her colleagues talking. She could see them, the lights half shining on their faces as the discussed who was going to go down to the basement but if they would only just shine their light over to her…

Amanda finally felt the life slipping from her grasp, all oxygen from her body leaving her slack and trying to hold on to the final moments of her life. She could see Carisi and Fin breaking away from the group and she reached up as much as she could, trying to call them back…but she knew she couldn't.

This was it for her. In that moment, she felt the strap slide from around her throat as she fell to the ground. The huge gulp of air didn't come easily and it wasn't enough to keep her conscious. Through the small bit of light lighting up the ceiling above her, she could see a large, hulking figure sliding into the darkness of the kitchen and she wanted to scream, but her vision began to blur as she felt her body sliding further and further into the black.

The last thing Amanda saw before her vision faded into nothingness was light flooding into the room her name being called frantically from every different direction.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Huge shout-out to everyone who is hanging in there with my fics and their long update times. I know I take a while, but I work full-time, I'm in school full-time, I'm in a musical and I'm about to be part of a writing team developing a show for a local theatre, so I'm extremely busy, but I always try and find time to write. I was able to push this huge ass chapter out, and it's not perfect, but shit is about to start going down! Again, thank you to everyone who hangs in there and reads my work. Knowing I have people who want to read and comment on my stuff is so awesome! I don't own SVU or the characters. ENJOY!

**NIGHT 3**

Amanda's eyes flew open and she coughed violently, gasping for air and staring wildly into Liv's eyes as she knelt over her. She watched as Barba knelt down on her other side, his hands grabbing her wrists while Liv's grabbed either side of her face.

"Calm down, Amanda! Calm down! Breathe! Breathe with me," Liv said firmly, ignoring the loud questions coming from behind her. She was nearly pushed out of the way by Fin and Carisi, who crowded over them, trying to get a look.

"Back up, she needs air!"

Amanda coughed and sputtered a few more times, calming down, but she was unable to stop the hot tears from cascading down her cheeks. She did her best not to break out into a full on sob as Liv wiped her face and helped, along with Barba, to push her up into a seated position.

"What happened? 'Manda, talk to me," Carisi knelt over her legs, brushing the hair out of her face. The skin of her neck was burning and her throat felt like it was crushed, hurting every time she swallowed. She tried to utter a few words, but nothing was coming out. Instead, tears slipped down her cheeks and she closed her eyes, her body wracking with sobs.

There was shuffling and Carisi had his arms wrapped around her in a hug. She felt Liv's presence disappear from her side and her faint instruction for Fin to grab his side arm, prompting Carisi to do the same.

"I'll be back," he whispered to her and bolted, feet stomping towards their room. She knew they were about to search the house high and low and she wanted to stop them, out of fear for their safety. It was an irrational thought to have, but that was always her reaction when there was potential danger that could threaten her friend's lives.

"Rollins," she heard Barba and she locked eyes with him, tears still streaming down her face, "Let's move you to the couch. Can you stand?"

She nodded after a moment and she held onto him as she stood on shaky legs with his arm around her shoulders. Rita, who stood rooted in one place the entire time, ran over to help them move her. Carisi and Fin passed through the room, guns raised. There wasn't much of the house to cover, even though the space was big, but the search had to be thorough.

"Hey," Barba called out, helping her sit gently on the couch, "…check the basement good."

"Basement?" Carisi, obviously wasn't aware of such a place and Fin looked much the same. That did nothing but set Barba even further on edge, if his troubled expression said anything. The guys disappeared down the other hall, leading back to where the suite was per Liv's call.

Amanda gratefully accepted the tissues from Rita, who grabbed them off the coffee table and wiped her eyes. She watched as the woman pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911, connecting immediately. Her words went unnoticed; all Amanda could focus on were the sounds of her own choking and feeling of a wet tongue licking her hand. She closed her eyes, folding herself in half as she began crying again.

Next to her, Barba patted her back, trying to comfort her. It was highly unusual for her to be so emotional, and she knew it must have been awkward for him to see it. Still, she was grateful she wasn't alone. She didn't feel safe.

"Sheriff is five minutes away," Rita said just as Carisi, Fin, and Liv rejoined them, guns still in their hands, but nothing outwardly wrong.

"House is clear," Fin said, sighing heavily as he ran his hand over his face. Carisi was by her side again, taking Barba's place as he took his place by Liv's side. "Whoever was in here…is gone somehow."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know, but it happened the other night, with me," Rita interjected, throwing her phone on the couch next to Amanda. The blonde woman leaned into Carisi, tears still falling. Everyone descended into silence, no one able to come up with anything to say and they waited, until the sirens drew near.

* * *

"I see you've met our friendly guests!"

The sheriff's goofy smile faltered as he took in the blonde on the couch, rubbing her neck where dark, red bruises wrapped around her throat. She sat there, a tall man sitting beside her and rubbing her shoulder in comfort. The group of individuals, some of whom were holding badges, stared at him with a myriad of emotions.

_Bad joke, Skip._

"Sorry," Skip said sheepishly, "I've seen so many dead bodies the past few weeks, I try and diffuse these situations with humor. Which, probably isn't the best idea."

"No, it's not," a brunette woman, wrapped up in a robe and fuzzy slippers, stepped forward, "Are you by yourself?"

"Yes ma'am. We're short staffed and we only have a few patrols out on the roads right now, and I was closest."

It wasn't a lie. The precinct was incredibly short on help these days, with most of their younger officers leaving transferring to bigger units out in the large cities surrounding this small town. It was a destination spot, for sure, and the small town wasn't used to this level of criminal activity. Not like these city slickers were used to seeing, he was sure.

Hell, all these murders they'd probably heard about didn't even phase them, or so he thought. He supposed they were feeling the effects now, since one of their friends had been attacked. Two of them, if they explained it correctly. That made him nervous.

Most of the people that called in suspicious activity ended up dead hours or a day later and he was eager not to be caught in the cross fire, as bad as that sounded. Besides, he was positive they could hold their own, being detectives and all…

But, he swore an oath to protect the people of this town, albeit begrudgingly, so he would follow through with protocol, even if he was scared shitless.

"I'll file a report as soon as I get back to the station. I would suggest ya'll come with but…," Skip looked out one of the windows, seeing the snow begin to pick up. There was a storm heading through; another system was going to dump a shit load of snow on top of them and it was going to render their small town useless.

"I don't care what happens, I just don't want to stay here," Amanda choked out, leaning heavily into Carisi's side. Liv, nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. The ten minutes between Amanda regaining consciousness and clearing the house, had been hectic and chaotic. They had their weapons strapped and ready to go, in case the fucker who hurt Amanda was going to come back for another round.

The feeling she had in the pit of her stomach earlier was now churning violently in her stomach. Whatever had been going on in this little town was fucking with them, and she wasn't going to have it. These people who were committing these murders was having too much fun toying with them.

As far as she was concerned, they were messing with the wrong ones.

"Unfortunately, there's a huge storm headed this way. Gonna hit in about an hour. It won't be safe to be on the road. I would suggest heading to a hotel up the road, but most everyone is out of vacancy and aren't accepting anymore reservations…"

Barba stepped in, "When is this storm over? We'll leave after."

"Not until tomorrow afternoon. Supposed to get hit with a few feet. After that, they gotta clean the roads, salt 'em. Could be a while."

That news didn't sit well with any of them and Skip swallowed, "We could station someone outside the house…get ya'll some security. Plus, I mean, you guys are detectives…if anyone tries to come at you again, you'll have backup."

Liv sighed and hung her head, already knowing they were going to have to stay. There was no way they were going to be able to drive through a snow storm that was going to dump tons of snow all over the road. It wasn't safe, just like staying in this cabin was.

"So, we're fucked," Fin said from the loveseat, where Rita was tucked into his side, nervously picking at her nails. Rafael rubbed her back, feeling her stress building in her muscles.

"Sorry," Skip said quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets. He looked out the window again, seeing a sheen of snow already covering his windshield. If he was going to get them a unit stationed in front of their cabin, he needed to do it quickly.

"If there's nothing more, I'm gonna head back to the precinct and inform my boss. We should have a unit out here in under an hour."

No one said anything but as he turned to leave, Liv patted his shoulder and thanked him, watching him walk to his car and leave before she turned back inside, scoping out the front of the cabin before doing so.

It was nearing midnight and she was wide awake despite the late hour. They all turned to look at her for some sort of direction and she just shook her head, running a hand through her loose hair. So much had happened in the past hour, she wasn't even sure what to think or to say.

So, she didn't say anything.

**DAY 4**

It was early in the morning when Amanda woke from her nap and Carisi jumped to help her sit up. She shook him off gently, feeling angry even though she knew he was just trying to help. Her throat still hurt and her head was pounding, but she wasn't incapacitated like everyone seemed to think she was.

Although, she couldn't blame them. They saw the dark mark of the strap that still stung and they saw her sobbing uncontrollably, so their concern for her wasn't unfounded. Still, she wished they wouldn't walk around on pins and needles. They did that all night before they separated into their own bedrooms. They agreed on a schedule, a patrol of some sort. It was easy enough to stay awake all through the night, since it had become plainly obvious whoever attacked her and touched Rita was there to mess with them.

Eventually, they had to give into some sleep. She had fell asleep around 3 a.m., when Carisi took his post, gun strapped to his hip and watching the heavy snow accumulate in the light from the porch.

It was light outside right now and the morning news was playing on the television and she felt safer than she had. The winter storm warning was showing their current location, along with all the business and school closings of the nearby bigger towns the news station catered to.

"Still snowing. Way it's going, we're going to have to shovel our way out of here."

Amanda didn't say anything, touching her neck. It hurt less, but it was warm from the abrasions there. It was going to be a while before they healed. She could feel the tears gathering behind her eyes again, but she didn't let them fall. She'd cried way too much for her liking.

"It's all my fault."

Her whispered words hit him like a ton of bricks. He sputtered, "What? What do you mean?"

"It was my idea to come up here. It was my stupid idea. I thought we could all use a break and look at what's happening."

"Hey. Nothing is your fault."

"I should have checked the news. Should have checked the weather," she shook her head, eyes growing glassy. She heard shuffling from down the hall and looked over to see Barba shuffling out from the hallway, hair a mess and eyes half-closed. She turned back and blinked a few times, shaking off Carisi's comforting hand.

"I'm going to go take a shower."

"Do you want me to stand outside the door?"

Amanda chuckled humorlessly, "I have a gun, too."

Barba nodded as he passed her, tired eyes focusing on the television reporting the news. He went through the process of making coffee, even extending the offer to Carisi, who nodded.

"Police still out there?"

"Van hasn't moved all night," he said, knowing the sheriff's van was still parked out in front of the porch. Through the patrols, they would talk briefly with the partners sitting in heated vehicle, before they checked the perimeter of the house, making sure nothing suspicious was happening where they couldn't see. But, nothing so far.

It was making them all anxious.

"Kudos to them," Barba muttered, handing Carisi his mug. Liv was still sleeping, her gun on the nightstand next to her and he wasn't about to disturb her. She'd been tossing and turning since she laid down now that she was sleeping peacefully, he didn't want to wake her.

He'd been on edge all night, as well. Only getting about three hours. He'd worked most of the night, going through the files on his laptop he brought just to keep his mind off everything, not that it helped much. He had to stop finally, because his work was becoming sloppy and that wasn't good for his notes.

"Yeah," Carisi sighed, heavy eyes as he sipped his coffee. Barba eyed him nudged his arm, nodding towards the hall.

"Go sleep. You're useless when you're tired. And whiny."

Carisi couldn't hold back a chuckle, but he didn't move, "I need to stay up. Make sure everything is fine."

"It's daylight. I don't think whoever is hunting us down is ballsy enough to come out in the morning. Plus, I know how to fight."

Carisi looked at him, unconvinced as he sipped his coffee. Barba scoffed, "I grew up in the Bronx. You fight or you go home every day with a black eye. Now go. I want peace and quiet while I watch the news."

"I can be quiet."

"Even your breathing annoys me, goodbye."

Carisi, despite the insult, smiled gratefully at the older man and left, taking his coffee with him that was going nothing to keep him awake. Barba was right, although he was skeptical of the man who wore expensive suits and gelled his hair that he could fight. Either way, he was right. Before he could lay down on his fold out couch, he felt his phone vibrate with an incoming call.

The screen read unknown and he deliberated just ignoring this one, because he'd received at least a hundred since he got there. Half of them went unanswered, because he'd grown annoyed with them, but the one's he had picked up were all the same. Static with heavy breathing for a few seconds before the call dropped.

He took a second and hit the green button, already knowing what was going to happen. He tightened his hand on his mug as he repeatedly asked the same questions. Who was there and why were they calling. The same thing, every single time. Every single time, it went unanswered.

He dropped the phone onto the unused side of the fold out couch and dropped down next to it after he set his mug on the dresser. He was out before his head even hit the pillow.

Rita shuffled out into the living room, smelling the fresh coffee that roused her from her sleep, if she could call it that. Fin was dead to the world and she wanted it to stay that way. He'd been awake most of the night and only fell asleep when she begged him to. Him, awake all night, made her feel safe, but he wasn't any good to anyone dragging his feet.

"Morning," she said quietly to Barba, who waved at her from his position on the couch. She quickly poured some black coffee and sat on the other end of the couch, curling up under the quilt that was bunched up there. The house was freezing cold and the snow looked menacing, curling in the air outside.

"News says no cars on the road until tomorrow morning. Cleaning crews should be done by then."

She tried not to let her frustration be known. Throwing a tantrum wasn't going to help anything. She was just glad that uneasy feeling she'd been having was gone for the moment. It was daylight, the house was lit, they had security and-

She cut her own thoughts off, chuckling. Barba looked at her, confused as to why she was laughing. She just waved her hand, "It's probably a good thing we're both sleeping with cops, since someone is stalking all of us."

Barba took a moment before he joined her in laughing, finding the humor in the dark joke. She had a point, he couldn't deny that. He also hadn't really thought of that.

"What's so funny?"

Liv's sleepy voice carried out into the room, along with her heavy feet. She looked like a wreck, hair in her face and her pajamas twisted around her body. She yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, almost bumping into the kitchen island as her vision was obscured.

"Our love lives."

Liv glanced over her shoulder, pouring some fresh coffee into a cup, "Do I even want to know?"

"It's nothing bad," Rafael smiled, welcoming her into his side. She curled up next to him and laid her head on his shoulder, sighing into his neck. She was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep anymore. All she wanted was to cuddle and watch something other than the news. She reached for the remote on the coffee table and began to channel surf.

They sat in silence, Fin joining them ten minutes later in much of the same state as them. He joined them wordlessly, holding Rita close under the quilt she grabbed. There were no more words exchanged between the four of them as the wind howled outside and the re-run of some 70's sitcom played on the television.

* * *

"I gotta piss again."

Officer William Bolling rolled his eyes at his partner, who sat by the back of the van door, peering out the window that displayed nothing but pure white. The wind was picking up and the snow was falling heavier if their radar was correct. They were going to be there all night, and the only thing they had to do was read, use the wi-fi the house had to surf the internet and crap, patrol the outside of the house (where nothing fun was happening) and eat the bags of junk food they brought along.

"Go ask to use the toilet. Don't piss out the back like you did earlier."

"Man, I'm not about to walk through knee high snow."

"Your piss smells," he argued back as his partner opened the back door and stood up, already unbuttoning his pants. Bolling groaned and leaned back from his seat on the van floor, trying to focus in on the podcast he'd been listening to.

His partner whistled and went about his business, taking his sweet time and shivering when the wind swept some white snow into the van. Man, he was going to love it when the roads were clear and he was able to go home. This assignment was a piece of cake, minus the fact that they were virtually stuck in a van, in feet of snow until tomorrow morning. It was nearing noon now, and he was knee-deep in the middle of one his shows.

Bolling wrinkled his nose as the smell wafted in with the air and he ripped his earbud out of his ear, "Are you done yet? Fucking asshole."

"Hey," his partner laughed, zipping his pants up and turning around, leaving the door open and letting snow drift in, "My piss smells like roses and you know it."

Bolling was about to yell at to shut the door, his hand raising his earbud to push it back in, when his partner yelped and went flying forward, straight into him. Bolling cursed, the weight of the other man pushing him back into the wall of the van. The door of the van slammed shut and a sudden weight on the backside of the car, along with a heavy grunt alerted them.

A large, towering man, knelt before them, face windswept, holding a pick axe in one hand and a creepy smile hidden in his thick beard. Bolling scrambled to reach for his gun stuck in his holster, but it was pinned underneath the weight of his partner.

Before he could even scream, the pick axe swung and embedded itself into his partner's head, blood and brain spraying and squirting out of the wound and on his face. The axe was yanked out of the back of the man's head, bringing skin and hair with it. Bolling shuddered, face pale and mouth open as he stared up at the man know leaning over him, peering down at him with hard eyes.

He didn't have time to think because the axe was in his throat and stuck in the metal wall of the van.

**NIGHT 4**

Carisi was glad he hadn't bothered to unpack the entire time they'd been there. Sometimes, being too lazy was a good thing, like in these situations, although this wasn't exactly a normal vacation situation.

They were being hunted, for all intents and purposes, and by people who were continually evading the law enforcement around town. Of course, it didn't seem that hard. This was a small town with an even smaller population, a popular vacation destination with all of the mom and pop shops, the awesome scenery and the rustic cabins, like the one they were staying in. One would think the sheriff's office would be calling in the FED's to help out, seeing as how it was driving down tourism and upping their crime rate.

One would think…

He moved away from watching the drifting snow obscuring his view of their cars only parked a few feet away. They all hoped the snow wasn't going to be as bad as the news reported, because they were booking it out of there as soon as it got light enough outside. He felt bad, momentarily, that those two cops were sitting out in their utility van all last night, all this morning and now, all through this night, watching the place. They hadn't moved or spoken to anyone other than him before the sun rose, when he went out and scoped the outside of the place.

"Sonny," Amanda croaked from the bed, "Help me."

He hopped on top of the suit case on her bed, waiting until she forced the zipper closed to slide off it and fall on his back. She moved her bag next to his before she joined him, fingers gingerly running across the red and bruised skin of her neck. The ice and Vaseline from earlier worked wonders, but it still hurt to talk and swallow. All she had to eat was some ice cream and hot soup and she was desperate to go to sleep.

"You ok?"

Carisi eyed her, watching as she settled down on her back next to him. Her eyes looked dead tired when she forced a small smile and nodded. He didn't miss the way she help back a wince when her neck moved.

"Tired?"

"Very," she whispered, shutting her eyes for a few seconds. He wasn't getting any sleep tonight, and he knew she didn't want to either, with her experience earlier. She'd been thinking about it all day, unavoidable as they all spent their time gathered in the living room, watching movies and trying to laugh.

"Why don't you sleep? I'm probably not going to be able to, and I don't even want to, so…," he suggested, happy that she looked so relieved at what he was trying to say.

"You sure?"

"Positive. I haven't caught up on any of my shows since we've been here and this is the perfect time to do it."

Amanda patted his shoulder, so grateful he was willing to stay up and watch over the place while she caught some shut eye. That's all she really wanted to do, anyway. While she got settled under the covers, Carisi fished his tablet out of his bag and slid in next to her, not even blinking an eye when she slid close to his side and fell asleep almost immediately.

He settled in, keeping one of his earbuds hanging just to make sure he could hear everything around him. His eyes found his phone just a foot away from him, the screen lit up with a missed call from an unknown phone number, but he didn't reach for it. Instead, he clicked on the first episode in his queue and settled in.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Liv and Rafael sat curled up on the couch, silently watching a movie and trying to get their minds off the events of the day. She'd known something was going to happen, and it did, and it wasn't good, at all.

She absent-mindedly played with her boyfriend's fingers, eyes settled on the veins of his hand as she remembered the look in that man's eyes at the pancake house. The way Amanda described the person who attacked her sounded strangely familiar to the man who stood towering over her, his eyes dark above a full beard. He was tall and massive and able to pick up a woman by the neck with a strap without much trouble.

The thought crossed her mind that maybe he was behind it. Maybe, the reason why he stopped her and he wouldn't let her pass (and _sniffed_ her) was because he…

Liv sighed, trying to shut her mind off. She focused on the feeling of safety being beside Rafael brought her. Sure, they were all safe considering they had their weapons and they security parked outside of the cabin, but still, that didn't quell much of anything. Especially since Rafael had told her about the experience he had in the basement the other night. Where he found his missing phone under a swinging lightbulb.

She mentioned her missing items, briefly asking if he had taken them, and when he said he hadn't, she knew the thoughts she didn't want to have were right all along. Maybe, if she mentioned something earlier, this could have been avoided. Amanda could have not been almost strangled just feet from where they stood last night.

Rafael rubbed her shoulder, "Tired? Want to lay down?"

She shook her head and looked up at him, pressing her lips against his jaw. He leaned into her, resting their foreheads together. Everyone had been on high alert, making it impossible to even rest, and this was the first time that day that she even felt at ease.

"I can't wait to get back home. All I want is some shitty take-out and our DVR and Noah."

He chuckled, kissing her forehead. In the quiet of the living room, her cell phone ringtone broke through, making them both jump. She leaned forward and picked it up, thinking it was going to a phone call from the little boy she just mentioned, but her she frowned when she saw the area code of the town they were in flash across her screen.

"Hello?"

* * *

Fin and Rita laid silently, staring up at the ceiling, the light of the snow casting the shadows of the blinds right in their line of vision.

They were both still awake, but they didn't speak, too worn out from their day of doing nothing. That was what this vacation was for…to do nothing and not feel guilty about it. But, things had taken a drastic turn of events. They spent all day doing nothing and jumping at any little sound. None of them were at ease, understandably, and that was somewhat exhausting.

They ate was in the cupboards and packed their stuff up, ready to leave as soon as the roads were cleaned and drivable. She would be happy when they made it back to the safety of her apartment and the could leave this bumfuck town behind, never to be seen again.

"You ok?"

Rita turned and faced him, her fingers scratching across his beard, "I guess. You?"

"Ready to find these guys and kill 'em."

Fin was beyond furious, although his calm demeanor was contradictory to what he felt inside. He didn't want to let it be outwardly known, although Rita could tell right away by the rigid set of his body when he slid into bed. Someone had broken into this cabin, touched her and almost killed Amanda. That was crossing a line that didn't need to be crossed and if he got the chance before they left, he was going to make sure they knew it.

He knew Rita hoped it wouldn't come to that. She was ready to go and never look back and he couldn't agree more. But, seeing her so afraid and Amanda sobbing into Carisi's shoulder earlier…it pissed him off, more than anyone could know.

"Just try and sleep…ok?"

"I'm trying, baby."

That was all he could do.

The both jumped when the door to their bedroom opened and light from the hallway flooded in. Rita loosened her grip on Fin's shirt when she realized it was only Liv. The woman apologized and flipped the light on, holding her cell phone.

"Hey, sorry but I just got a call from the sheriff's station. The unit out front won't respond to their calls…they asked if we could check on them. They haven't reported in since noon."

Fin nodded and slid out of bed, dressed in warm clothes already. Liv left them and shot down the hall, presumably to grab her winter coat, gloves and boots. The snow had stopped falling, but the wind was still blowing and drifting the snow from the ground into the air.

Rita sat up and pulled the jacket she wore tighter around her frame. A sick feeling pulled in her stomach, one she had all day growing stronger with each article of clothing he pulled on to his body. She bit her lip, not wanting to seem like she was overreacting to the situation at hand. They were going to be in and out, really quick. Just to check on the guys out front and they would be back.

That was that, she tried telling herself.

"I'll be back. Stay here."

She nodded and watched her boyfriend leave, swallowing the lump in her throat and the words that wanted slip out, died on her lips.

* * *

"They didn't say anything else? Just that they didn't check in?"

Liv nodded, slipping her arms into the jacket Rafael held up for her. Fin raced out of the room, slipping thick gloves onto his hands just as she was putting on hers, "Ready?"

"Hey," Rafael grabbed onto her arm and stopped her before she could follow Fin out, who was already on the porch and staring out at the van, "Be careful. Please."

"I will," she kissed him quickly and walked out after, closing the door behind her.

"We're gonna have to walk through the snow," he said and bent down, slipping his pant legs into his boots. Liv followed suit, already knowing their feet were going to be frozen by the time they got back inside.

"Watch out," Fin helped her down into the knee-high snow and they trudged through what was a short path that would lead them to the van. Liv stopped them halfway through, pointing towards the back of the van, where large track marks started there and tracked all the way around the side of the house and out of sight.

"I think we know why they didn't check in."

They shared a look, but continued forward, making sure they kept their eyes and ears peeled. Liv made it to the door first, but peeked into the driver's seat, seeing nothing but equipment and two coffee cups sitting in the console. She glanced back, her hand on the handle, and locked eyes were her Sergeant, knowing exactly what they were about to find.

Liv slid the door open and jumped back, almost falling had it not been for Fin grabbing her as two bodies slid out, bloodied and very much dead. She covered her mouth, her voice muffled by her gloved hand.

"Jesus," Fin cursed, seeing the huge amount of blood, running like a river and melting the snow where it fell. The smell of death, so familiar to both, assaulted their noses, forcing them to step away from the bloody mess. And, it was such a mess. Blood on the walls, the laptop just a few feet in front of them.

"Call them back. Tell them to get a unit down here now."

Fin nodded and the two turned to head back into the house, but stopped and stood, frozen in place. Liv grabbed onto Fin's jacket, eyes wide and her stomach in her throat. She felt the muscles in his back tense as did her own.

Up on the porch, standing right in front of the door, stood a large man with a scruffy beard, staring straight back at them with a pick axe dangling from a strap around his wrist.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It's a shorter one, but its packed full with action, trust me. All of these things happen within the same time frame instead of one right after the other. I hope you guys like this! I don't own SVU or any of its characters. ENJOY!

**NIGHT 4**

Barba wiped away the condensation on the window by the door, watching as Fin and Liv began to trudge through the high snow. The winds occasionally kicked up the fine layer of powder, obscuring his vision, but he could see them until the light couldn't reach their forms anymore.

"Are they out there?"

He nodded, briefly glancing at Rita, who had a quilt wrapped around her shoulders. She probably didn't want to be alone, and he couldn't blame her. Not with everything that had happened. She stepped up to the window on the opposite side of the door and stood silently.

"What are they pointing at?"

Barba narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the direction of whoever's hand was pointing to the but his thoughts were cut off by the floorboards just down the hall creaking under the weight of something…or someone? Shuffling footsteps grew closer and he could see Rita, out of the corner of his eye stiffen, face still shoved in the window and her hot breath beating against it. She swallowed hard and they glanced at each at the same time, unmoving.

Barba licked his lips, the sound stopping just a few feet from him, where the hallway began and he balled his hands into fists to keep them from shaking so violently. Rita, who was doing her best not to break down into tears, whispered his name pleadingly, looking to him for direction.

He breathed heavily, the presence of another person beating down on him too much to take, and he slowly turned his head, eyes traveling across the rustic, cabin walls until they landed on a mane of wild, brown hair and striking blue eyes of a woman, staring at him with a sinister grin on her face. Her face itself was red and dry, skin peeling and frost bitten almost.

She wore thick clothing, reminiscent of the man in the diner they were sitting in just yesterday. Hell, they could have been twins if it weren't for the fact she was a woman, and shorter than even he was. His eyes trailed from her sinister grin to the knife glinting under the lights. It was long and sharp, with a tip that looked like could cut the hardest of rock if tested.

He jumped when the woman made kissing noises at him, her tongue licking the sores on her lips as she growled at them. Her posture changed, the knife readjusted and tightened in her grip and Barba had only seconds to grab Rita and bolt from their position, as the woman screeched and flung herself at them, embedding the knife into the wall right where Rita's head had been.

Rita screamed, clinging to his arms as he bodily dragged her towards the couch, running into it before their socked feet could stop. He felt his panic rising as the woman forcefully withdrew the knife out of the wall and ran at them again, this time following them as the bolted into the kitchen and planted themselves on the opposite side of the island.

The woman splayed her dirty hands on the counter, the knife clanging against the marble as she eyed them with wide eyes. Her tongue licked at her sores again, scabbed over and dirty. Rita, who was trying not to fly into a full-on panic attack, kept her hold on Barba's arm tight, refusing to let go.

It was a tense moment, as they both shuffled back and forth, trying to find a way around and away from the woman, who still eyed them both. She mumbled in gibberish, her yellowed teeth gnashing and biting at her sore covered lips.

"Oh God," Rita whispered through her tears after she felt Rafael pushing her one way and the woman blocking them in again. He was tense next to her as she held on, his hands gripping the edge of the counter as he tried to guess her next move.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the woman growled and bolted around the counter, giving them the opportunity to run around the other side and into the living room. Rafael pushed Rita ahead of him, prepared to run after her, but slipped on the laminate floor, giving the woman the chance to slice at his back with her knife.

He yelped in pain, feeling the blade just barely graze his back, slicing through the fabric of his shirt. Rita turned, sliding to a stop by the arm of the couch just in time to see the wild woman jump on Rafael's back, knife raised in the air as he struggled and she tried to find an opening to plunge it into his skin.

In a show of pure adrenaline, Rita grabbed the television remote that had been resting on the cushion and threw it, hitting the woman square in the face. It was enough to send her sliding off his back, freeing him from her weight. Before Rita could blink, he was grabbing her arms and pulling her towards the darkened hallway where she appeared.

She wanted to ask where they were going, but the words didn't come out. Instead, she let Rafael drag her down the hall and to an open door that lead to a barely lit staircase. The musty smell was overpowering as she nearly skidded down the steps.

The sound of the door slamming as they descended into the quiet of the basement was deafening.

* * *

Carisi jumped awake when he heard a high-pitched scream and a loud thump, followed by scuffling feet. It sounded like a stampede was going on in the living room, and he sat up, slightly disoriented with sleep.

Amanda was still dead to the world, comfortably wrapped in the thick blankets. He mentally scolded himself, knowing he was supposed to stay awake, but even his favorite show couldn't stop the sleep from pulling at his eyelids.

There was another scream and this time, he sat up completely, looking at the closed door that lead to the hallway. There was more thumping and he listened, not sure what he was hearing, and then a pained yell made his heart jump up into his throat and he was out of the bed, catapulting himself over Amanda and racing to the bedroom door.

He went to violently rip it open, but ended up pulling himself into the wood, the door not budging. He growled and yanked on it, the wood creaking with the effort but it wouldn't open. He kicked the door uselessly, the wood rattling from the force and he yanked on the door knob once more. The sounds of his grunting woke Amanda up, and she groaned as she turned around in the bed, the sheets twisting around her body.

"What are you doing?"

Carisi didn't pay her any mind, still focused on trying to open the door and listening to the pained sounds of someone in pain just beyond the door. He could hear two people's voices, raised in panic and he was almost positive Barba was out there, gasping in pain. Rita's raised voice followed.

"Sonny, what's wrong?"

Carisi slammed his hands on the door, still unable to get it open, teeth gritting together in frustration. He growled and looked back at her, his eyes finding hers, but something out of the corner of his eye-

"Don't. Move."

Amanda froze instantly, face dropping into a terrified expression at his change in demeanor and tone of voice. She swallowed roughly, feeling the weight of someone on the other side of the bed behind her. Her eyes never left his, even as the barrel of a gun came to caress her temple, it's cold metal stinging against her skin.

Carisi watched this tall, bald man climb into the bed, his side arm wrapped up in his large, gloved hand. He felt his heart skip in his chest as the man leaned down and sniffed her hair, blowing strands in her face when he blew in her ear.

Amanda, wide eyed, pursed her trembling lips, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. She was trying to stay calm, looking to him as the man continued to lean over her, grunting as he traced her body over the blankets, leaving dirt across the light pink quilt.

Carisi had a split second of decision making before he growled and launched himself at the taller man, taking him by surprise. Amanda slipped out of the bed and landed on the floor, scrambling towards the night stand where she kept it stashed. She was glad, in that moment, that she decided for her own sanity, that she hadn't packed it away with all her luggage.

She raised the gun, gripping it tight as Carisi and the man wrestled around, exchanging punches. They fell off on the other side of the bed, knocking over one of the lamps on the bedside table that shattered on the floor and dimmed the room considerably. She cursed and ran around the side, finding the gun pointed directly in her direction.

"Move!"

She ducked per Carisi's instruction, dropping to the ground as the round whizzed by her head and embedded itself into the wall opposite. She took a second to gather herself before she got back up, seeing the gun had been knocked from the man's hand and onto the floor beside their writing bodies.

Amanda wasted no time in taking the opening she'd been given and popped off two rounds in the man's head, making Carisi flinch and roll away from him. Wood and blood flew, spraying the bed and Carisi's sweater.

The silence that ensued was so loud, she could barely hear Carisi calling her name, asking if she was ok. Instead, all she could do was look at the shocked expression the nameless man's face and feel the stinging pain of a strap around her neck.

* * *

Liv and Fin stood in place, frozen, the wind blowing snow in their faces and up into the air, but their eyes never wavered from the hulking figure outside, the axe swinging from its hand.

They had no weapons, their cell phones were inside and they were knee deep in snow that was damn near impossible to run through. The hulking figure easily jumped down into the snow, walking through it as if it was water. Liv tightened her hand on the fabric of Fin's jacket and pulled him back, deciding their best option was to run.

"Go! Now!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the pick axe that had been swinging from the man's hand was embedded into the wall of the van, denting it with the impact. She pushed on Fin's back, forcing him forward as fast as possible. They managed to make it through the premade tracks that lead towards the back of the house.

They didn't dare glance back and, instead, focused on gaining a lead on him more than where he currently was. Liv coughed, the cold air stinging her lungs. It was hard to breathe, and with every breath she took, the more her eyes watered.

Fin wasn't faring well either, feeling his mind grow hazy. He didn't like running for a reason, and a dizzy spell had him leaning off towards the side. Liv stopped him before he could fall and continued to push towards the back yard.

Eventually, they came to a stop near the enclosed patio, where the light filtered out of the window, casting it across the untouched snow. The tracks stopped near the large, living room picture window. The windows of the enclosed patio had no blinds, with nothing but a screen and glass separating them from the inside.

"The patio. We can get in there. The windows should be unlocked," Liv pointed, wheezing as she pushed him forward. Fin coughed with the effort, but didn't fight it.

"I'll lift you," Fin coughed, clearing some of the snow out of the way so he could lean down. Liv looked unsure, but didn't even voice her concerns. There was no time.

"C'mon," he said and held out his hands, laced as she put her foot in it. She grabbed the railing, and, together, she pulled herself up as he pulled her foot up, giving her an extra lift. He grunted, feeling his strength waning and his head spinning while she ripped the screens edging, eventually tearing off the entire frame.

"I almost got it," she gasped, trying to take as much of her weight off his hands and arms as possible. Fin held his breath, doing his best to keep her up. Faintly, from around the front of the house, he could hear scraping against metal and crunching snow and his heart sped up in his chest.

"Hurry," he grunted, adjusting his grip and shoving his thigh underneath, taking some of the pressure off his arms. Liv used all of the strength in her left arm, pushing the glass up. It budged, little by little until she was able to slip her fingers underneath and push the glass all the way up. It slammed and rattled and she used both of her arms to propel her forward, her face hitting the heat of the enclosed porch. The hot tub bubbled and steamed, looking so inviting in that split second.

Fin pushed her up, sending her falling face first into the hard, wood floor. She groaned in pain but stood up, ready to spin back around and help him through. She could hear, over the bubbling of the tub and whistling wind, a scraping running the length of the room, and she could see, over her shoulder and out another darkened window, the top of a head moving swiftly past it.

She wasted no more time and drug a small stand over to the window, climbing on it so she could shove half her body out and reach down for Fin, who was trying to find a way to scrabble up the side and to the window. Their hands connected and she pulled, yanking up as hard as she could. She could tell he was in pain, from the small gasps and winces he made from her pulling, but there was no time to adjust.

"Liv! Liv, hurry!"

His voice rose in panic, eyes looking to his left and she didn't have to look to see what he was staring at. His feet slipped against the wood siding and she braced her knees against the wall just on the other side. The hulking figure moved, arms raised to the side and tip of the pickaxe glinting in the light.

She let out an angry yell and pulled him up with as much of her strength as she could, yanking his body halfway into the window. Just outside, she could hear the impact of the pickaxe hitting the outside of the house and Fin yelped. Her face contorted into fear as he slipped down into the window, forcing the stand to break from both of their weight.

The figure, gleaming eyes becoming visible in the light, watched as the got up and scrambled out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them. The hallway was dark when the fell into it, breathing hard and slumping against the walls.

"Bitch…almost took my balls off…," Fin gasped, doubled over and trying to catch his breath. Liv probably would have laughed, but she could hear, from behind the door, glass breaking and an angry growl as heavy metal hit the floor.

* * *

"Did those detectives from the city call back yet?"

Sheriff John Michael stood outside of the precinct, smoke curling into the air from the cigarette he puffed on. It was serene outside as the day was coming to an end and, with no cars on the road, the quiet was something he welcomed.

After spending all day in his office, on the phone with the investigators and the coroner's office and every other damn department he had on these cabin murders, all he wanted and needed was the quiet, the cold be damned.

"No sir."

He shook his head, a bad feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. He stayed quiet, glancing at the young Officer assigned to shoveling the steps. A snow plow drove past, clearing the massive amounts of snow of the road. Poor guys were working overtime, but then so was he, since he was stuck in his office along with his Major and a few jr. Officers.

He couldn't quite place it, but it settled in his stomach hours earlier, when he'd asked for the information on the two officers stationed outside of the cabin down the road and they hadn't checked-in in hours. That wasn't a good sign, especially since Skip, who whistled a tune as he shoveled beside him, had relayed the nature of the call to him when he arrived back late last night.

He took another heavy drag of his cigarette, seeing another snow plow blowing past the precinct, spreading salt on the now cleared road, following the other one into town. He threw the half-smoked cigarette into the large snow pile below him, unable to rid himself of the nagging feeling pulling inside him.

The snow had stopped falling and the roads were clear enough that he could head home, but all he could think about were those two officers he sent out there last night and the fact that those NYPD detectives hadn't called back out of his head. Normally, it wouldn't have bothered him much. He only employed capable officers into his precinct and he trusted each of them implicitly to get the job done.

But, given the fact that he'd seen more dead bodies within the past few weeks than he had in his 30 years of service, it was worrying him. So much so, he made the decision, right then and there, to hop in his cruiser and head in the direction of those vacation cabins himself.

Armed with his weapons, snow boots and snow tires, he pulled around to the front of the precinct and whistled out the open window, catching Skip's attention. The kid almost slipped on the stairs as he hurried down the steps and up to the window.

"Hop in. We're going to go check on that cabin."

He understood the kid's hesitance and admired that he didn't bother objecting to his demands. As soon as he slipped into the passenger seat, they drove off into the night, heading towards the cabin where two of his officers were stationed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Ok, here it is! I know you guys have been waiting for it. It's not my best work but I finally was able to punch out the rest of it! I hope you guys enjoy and tell me what you think. I don't own SVU or the characters.

**NIGHT 4**

"Maybe we should head back…"

Sheriff Michael tried not to roll his eyes too dramatically, but failed when Skip tensed up and yelped when they slid a little bit around the curve leading up to the cabins. He'd been driving like a little old lady who couldn't see over the steering wheel, but it was necessary when ice and snow were involved. Fortunately, he'd had to traverse these roads in heavy snow so often lately, he'd become an expert.

Skip, however, was too damn jumpy. But, what did you expect from a rookie?

"We're almost there. No sense in turning back."

Skip swallowed and nodded, "Yes sir."

Michael sighed deeply and leaned over to turn up the heat, deciding they needed music to try and lighten the mood. The feeling that settled in his stomach from earlier hadn't faded, and only proceeded to grow stronger the closer they drove to their destination. He eyed his GPS, seeing their little blue dot moving at a snail's pace along the road, and he wondered what they would find when they got there.

Dead bodies? Distorted and cut up and hung from the ceilings like they had with all the other cases lately? Would it be so bad that they would finally draw attention from the FEDs or national news coverage? He was already getting hundreds of calls a week from reporters all around the state…would this cabin of dead bodies finally push them into the rest of the country's television screens?

He certainly hoped not. He sincerely, from the bottom of his heart, hoped that they weren't about to be calling in the coroner at nearly midnight.

"You like Black Sabbath?"

"Who?"

Michael cast Skip a disgusted look and turned the CD to his favorite track in the car, trying to ease his mind by schooling the kid on what good music was. Whatever awaited them further up the hill, would be dealt with in due time.

* * *

Rita nearly tripped over her own feet when they touched the cold, cement floor of the basement. She gasped, shuffling her socked feet and hands finding purchase on the dusty, wooden walls. Rafael moved past her, narrowly running into the odd placement of furniture that sat under a tiny light bulb, swinging eerily back and forth. The frantic movement of the light bouncing off the walls was enough to make her sink to her knees on the floor, tears running down her cheeks as she tried to calm herself.

Rafael was in front of her, pulling on the material of his shirt to see the rip while feeling for blood, his breathing harsh. She pulled her knees into her chest, sinking to her bottom and trying to reign in her anxiety. She didn't want to go into a full-on panic attack, like the one's she had in college (oddly enough, something her and Rafael had in common), but she could feel it closing in on her with the feeling of cold fingers trailing down her back.

"Fuck…fuck…," Rafael choked out, bending over with his hands on his knees, taking large gulps of dusty air. Rita sniffled and looked over at him, locking eyes to try and suppress the panic that was threatening to take over. Luckily, having suffered more panic attacks in the last few years than she had, he could notice what was happening and quickly pulled her on her feet.

"Rita, don't. It's ok. We're fine. Breathe with me," he whispered to her, doing his best to prevent her from crumpling to the ground in a ball. She nodded, her bottom lip trembling as she did what she was told. After a solid minute, she was breathing deeply, her hands relaxed by her sides.

"I'm fine." Rafael dropped his hands, nodding. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

He sighed and moved away from her, taking in the rest of the area, like he hadn't before. He reached up over the arm chair and stilled the swinging lightbulb, burning hot when his skin made contact. With the light settling over the basement in a dim glow, he immediately spotted an old wooden chest, one of the doors hanging open. Under the light, he could make out the barrel of a shotgun, leaning against the side wall.

"Fin…and Liv…we need to go find them. Amanda and Carisi, too," Rita swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling like her voice was steady enough to speak clearly. Rafael glanced over his shoulder and nodded, reaching to open the door of the chest. It revealed a number of different tools, but most notably, other than the shotgun, was an old axe with a dirty handle.

"We will. But we need to make sure we can defend ourselves. We can't get to them if that psycho bitch kills us first."

He grabbed the shotgun, familiarizing himself with the weapon. No one knew, but he was excellent in the shooting range, and took up lessons a few years ago when he was trying to find alternate hobbies that could take his mind off the everyday horrors he encountered with his job. Shooting always worked, along with Yoga, and he would be damned if that secret was ever revealed.

He scooped up the ammo and emptied as much of it as he could into his pockets for easy access, before he grabbed the axe and handed it over to Rita, who looked at it with unease. He shook it, urging her to take it and smiled softly when she did, determination settling in. Rita wasn't weak, but she wasn't a fighter, he knew that. But, they were both going to have to get over their unease about the situation if they were going to make it out of there alive and to their significant others.

"What's the plan, then?" Rita gripped the handle tightly, the wood feeling foreign in her hands, but she was ready to go, despite the mini breakdown she broke out of less than a minute ago. She could feel that icy mask she reserved for especially evil clients goading her into taking their case coming through. That was the only thing that was going to help her stay calm through this.

Above their heads, they could hear the floorboards creaking, signaling the weight of someone walking around just upstairs. They were quiet, listening over the dull hum of the heater that sat under the stairs for a few seconds.

"We need to get up there and…," he tried but failed to come up with a suitable explanation. He didn't know what the plan was, because he had no clue how many of these people were there. The gunshot they heard earlier wasn't a good sign and Liv and Fin were outside…there were so many thoughts going through his brain he couldn't pin one down to truly think.

"We'll figure it out," she said, both agreeing on the statement. Going up there without a game plan could prove deadly, but the situation was deadly in general. Nothing was making sense to their rattled minds. They both readied themselves to head up the stairs when a loud, metallic bang forced them both back against the wall, scaring the living hell out of them with how loud it was.

It reverberated, sounding distant yet so near. They froze when they spotted movement from the opposite wall, where the light didn't quite reach, and the heavy grinding of metal against metal made them wince. Like nails on a chalkboard, it wasn't over soon enough.

For a terrifying thirty seconds, they stood stock still, weapons cradled against their bodies in their hands, waiting and waiting as the reverberation of the metal noise finally settled. The only sound that greeted them then was their heavy breathing.

Rafael leaned forward a little, eyebrows knit together. A slight breeze blew through the basement, ruffling the thin pajama pants Rita wore against her legs. There was a sound of a hiss before all hell broke loose.

The door slammed open against the opposite wall and the woman from earlier leaped over the chair, knife raised and her teeth clenched while she shrieked angrily. She practically fell into Rafael and before either one could even move, the knife was embedded into his shoulder, causing him to scream in pain. Rita backed up, screaming. She watched in horror as the woman twisted the knife slightly, bringing him down to the ground in unbearable pain.

Rafael squirmed to try and get away from the woman who fell on top of him, straddling him to take advantage of his position on the floor. She pulled the knife out, blood splattered against his neck from the force of it. She looked wild and inhumane as her tongue licked her sores and she raised the knife over her head.

He groaned in pain the more he squirmed and just before she could embed the knife into him again, there was more blood splattering against the wall near his head and on his chest. Green eyes watched as the sharp edge of Rita's axe lodged deeply into the woman's neck.

She fell limply back, her legs slipping out from under her and her back landing against his legs. Rita wasted no time in helping him slide out from under her body and off the ground. He was bleeding heavily and they were both shaky from the adrenaline pumping through their veins.

"Let's go," Rita said, grabbing the shot gun that fell to the side during the altercation and she helped him up the stairs, stepping over the blood and gore to avoid getting their socked feet dirty. Rita didn't bother grabbing the axe, too focused on the blood gushing from his shoulder and seeping into his shirt and her hoodie sleeve.

He winced in pain, every step up, but didn't scream, even when she bumped against his arm to try and open the door. She stopped them at the top, peaking around the corner. She almost pushed them back into the stairwell when she saw the figure of a person near the door, but sobbed in relief when she saw who it was with clear eyes.

"Fin."

* * *

"Jesus," Carisi muttered, sitting up the best he could from the small space he was stuck in. He rubbed his ears, having taken the brunt of the gunshot sound. He was covered in wood and blood, but he was alive and Amanda was standing over him with her hand outstretched to help him up.

He let her pull him to his feet and helped him wipe himself off, all the while, watching the body for any signs of life. He knew there would be none. Perfect headshot, right between the eyes. Truly, it was the only way to kill someone effectively, guaranteeing no chance of survival.

He eyed her, watching her hand circle the dark mark around her neck again. Her eyes were dark and clouded over, and her hand shook that held her gun, something he'd seen happen before. She didn't like killing people. No one did. But she always took it exceptionally hard, especially for the field they worked in.

However, he was glad she killed this sonofabitch hiding in their room, for God knows how long. How had he not noticed? Where did he even hide himself? Carisi tried wrapping his mind around it but couldn't. Amanda didn't give him much of an opportunity to, anyway.

"Get your gun." He listened to Amanda and dove for his duffel that sat next to the pullout couch. It took him a minute to make sure it was loaded and the safety was off, but he joined her side again by the door. She turned the knob, cursing when it didn't yield to her strength. She yanked on it, hard and pulled, trying every which way to try and get it to budge.

"There's something blocking it. These doors don't have locks," he said, getting on his knees. He pressed his face into the hardwood floor by her feet, eyes looking under the crack of the door. He saw nothing.

"We might have to bust it open the old fashion way."

She didn't want to, but they would have to. There was no other way other than trying to climb out the window. Through an open curtain she could see the snow had stopped falling, but it had also grown exponentially on the ground. She ran over to the other side of the bed, checking the body once more before she opened them completely, her gun scraping against the glass as she did so.

Their cars were effectively buried in the driveway, but she could make out what looked like tracks past their window, leading around the house. She followed them all the way to where the police van sat, unmoving. She gasped when she could make out the faint sight of a body—no, two bodies in the snow, blood and guts leaking over the edge of the van floor.

"Manda. C'mon," Carisi said, grabbing her attention. She didn't move, but merely pointed to what she saw. Behind him, she could feel him stiffen, his hand sliding off her shoulder and his breath blow a few strands of hair into her face. He said something, she wasn't sure what it was, but she felt him physically pull her back and away from the window.

"We have to go."

Amanda coughed and straightened up, allowing him to lead her back to the side of the bed, the backs of their knees against the edge of it. They both clicked the safeties on their guns, ensuring they wouldn't accidentally shoot themselves or each other in the process.

"On three…"

"One…Two…Three!"

Their shoulders, combined together, were enough to burst through the door, sending them both crashing to the hardwood floor just outside of the bedroom, the frame busting around them. Amanda groaned, feeling the mark around her neck burning with the impact along with her ribs.

Carisi didn't fare well either with the impact, hissing and holding his arm in pain. She sat up, wiping away some of the wood from the frame and checking on him. She only got to roll him over a bit before Liv suddenly appeared in front of them, blocking the light from the living room filtering into the hallway.

They both sighed in relief.

* * *

Liv and Fin wasted no time in getting into the living room, although they made sure their backs were covered. The movement beyond the door to the patio had stopped, giving them the opportunity to take a second to relax. They were in the clear, for right now.

"Rafi," she called, as soon as she was in the room, but didn't see him. Instead, she saw the remote on the floor, both batteries and the cover laying uselessly next to a bar stool, that had been knocked over. The change put her immediately on edge, as soon as Fin joined her, still breathing heavily.

"What happened?" Fin swallowed, eyes finding the same small mess hers had. She shook her head, trying to calm the sudden panic and worry she was having. The chair could have fallen from someone bumping into it and simply, refusing to pick it up. And the remote…it could have fallen off the end table by accident. Those two changes were easy to explain away, along with her boyfriend's and Rita's disappearance.

However, she couldn't really explain the hole in the wall near the front door, where her and Fin slipped out of not more than ten minutes ago. She knit her eyebrows together and walked over to it, fingers tracing the outline of the…was it a knife mark?

She bit her lip, ignoring Fin's questioning and raced down the hall to her room, opening the door without hesitation and finding it empty, along with the bathroom, which was still darkened. She reached for her gun that rested on the end table and hurried back to the living room, not wanting to take the chance of being caught off guard again.

The fact that her boyfriend wasn't in their room or the living room worried her deeply. Fin appeared out of his room, carrying his gun as well, and not seeing any sign of Rita following him out.

"No Rita?" She asked anyway, and Fin looked so worried and unlike himself, she was almost ready to cry. She looked back to where the knife mark in the wall was and she knew…she just knew…

They both startled at the loud sound of a door cracking and Carisi's pained yelp was all they both needed to race down the hall to their door, finding them both in a heap on the ground. Busted wood surrounded them as Amanda sat up and rolled Carisi over on his back.

"Are you two ok?" She leaned down, seeing them both look so relieved to see her face. Liv didn't miss the blood splattered over Carisi's face, but there was no time to comment on it. Her and Liv helped him up and brushed him off, helping him into the living and room and over to the empty sofa. He fell back against the cushions, breathing heavily.

"What happened? What's this blood?" Amanda sat next to him, sliding her gun onto the coffee table and running her hand through her hair. Carisi was the first to answer.

"Some guy…he tried, but Amanda shot him. She saved my life." He grabbed onto his arm, wincing again when he felt pain lance through his arm.

Fin, meanwhile, looked out of the window by the door, his gun resting in his back pocket. He wiped away the condensation. It was clear for now. He could still see the dead bodies outside and the track he and Liv made through the snow. His pants were uncomfortably wet and his heart still raced from the close call they had outside, but at least they were safe for now-

"FIN!"

He looked immediately to his right, seeing Rita, body halfway out of a doorway and he wasted no time in racing down the hall. As soon as he saw Barba, his arm thrown over her shoulder and the blood practically pouring from the wound in his shoulder, his relief at seeing his girlfriend was immediately gone.

"Shit, Liv!"

He quickly took Barba's weight off Rita, helping him down the hall faster than the smaller woman could. He ground his teeth together in pain, both from Liv's shriek when she saw him and the piercing pain from his stab wound.

"Oh God," she cried out, slipping her jacket off her shoulders in record time and pressing it against the gushing wound. She carefully held it there until they sat him down on the couch and she could properly wrap the clothing around it.

"Find a first aid kit!"

Fin, knowing they had one in his bathroom suite, rushed down the hall, gun pulled out for protection. He wasn't gone more than a few seconds and practically tossed the kit to Amanda, who jumped into action to help her.

"Stabbed," he said, breathing harshly as she pulled the jacket away and flung it over the side of the couch. She carefully ripped the shirt around his wound and took the rubbing alcohol that Amanda held out for her.

"I'm sorry honey," she said quickly and squirted the liquid into his wound, needing it to be clean before she attempted to sew it up. He kicked the coffee table and clenched his jaw so hard, she thought he might break it, but he did his best to keep himself from screaming. She hated to see him in so much pain, but the wound was deep and jagged and there was no way they were going to get by with just a few band-aids.

Just as Amanda was threading the needle, three loud knocks on the door broke them of their chaotic environment. Rita, who Fin just realized was holding a shot gun close to her side, jumped and scurried to his side. Everyone turned to stare at the front door, Rafael with some difficulty, and waited with bated breath, weapons drawn at the ready.

"What do we do?" Carisi stood up, ignoring the pain in his own arm in favor or raising his gun along with Fin. Liv held hers up as well, knees sunk into the couch while one of her hands rested with a clean cloth over her boyfriend's still bleeding wound.

"Stop. Talking." She hissed at them all, knowing full well what was outside. The waited a few more seconds when another round of loud knocks startled them all again. This time, it was accompanied with a gruff voice from the other side.

"Hello? Ya'll in there! It's the Sheriff! We're freezing our balls off out here!"

Sheriff Michael pulled up his pants a little as the door swung open, revealing a hell of a lot of guns pointed at him and Skip, who stepped back and raised his hands. He sent a displeased look back at the young officer, "Ya'll don't like the Sheriff's department, I can see."

Michael furrowed his brow when they were both ushered inside and the door slammed shut behind them, but he didn't question when he saw the mess everyone was. Bloodied clothes…injuries…they looked like messes that had just been through some shit. But, at least they weren't dead like he feared they were going to be. However, two of his officers hadn't made it out there and he wasn't sure which one he would have preferred.

"Everyone ok?"

"No," Liv said, working on Rafael's shoulder again, "We're not ok. We were all attacked and we need to get the hell out of here. Are the roads clear? Is that how you got up here?"

Michael nodded, watching as she took a string and needle from the blonde beside her. He looked away as she inserted the needle into his skin and the man next to her bit down on the couch pillow in his lap.

"Fuck," Skip said, holding his hand over his mouth. The tall blonde in front of him, who held his arm, spoke over the pained grunting.

"Are the roads clear or not? We have to get out of here, now."

Michael eyed him, seeing them looking haggard and scared. These were detectives and their words held weight to them automatically. The worry that disappeared when he found them very much alive, albeit injured, returned with those scared looks in their eyes. In all honesty, he wasn't sure what to do, having prepared himself to call the backup units so they could take crime scene photos.

"They're clear enough…," he said. The pained grunting had stopped and even from his position near the front door, he could see the woman hadn't done that great of a job on the sew up, but it was enough to quell some of the bleeding for now. "Did ya'll kill any of 'em?"

The question hung in the air for a split second, before two of the women nodded. He hummed, glancing back at Skip behind him. The young officer looked a little pale at seeing so much blood.

"These…people, if you wanna call them that…have killed a total of 17 people so far in these cabins. Usually…ya'll should be dead by now."

The woman who had been working on the stitches, stood up from the couch and wiped her hands on her jeans, "And? What does that matter? We have to leave. There's some giant out there who almost killed me and Fin a couple of minutes ago."

"Yeah," Rita stepped forward, "and some psycho tried to kill us in the basement, hence why he's got a giant stab wound in his shoulder!"

"Not to mention the fact I had to shoot one of them in our bedroom," Amanda moved around the couch, Fin stopping her before she could get in the guy's face. She was angrier than hell that he was standing there wasting everyone's time.

"Ok, ok, I get it. Calm down little lady," he said and stepped back when she tried to break away from Fin. The man calmed her down some as Carisi stepped forward.

"We'll go to the station with you or wherever you want us to go. But we can't stay here. Get it?"

Michael glared over at the man, "Well no shit. I'm still shocked over the fact that any of you are even alive. Now, all of you calm the hell down so we can think. Alright?"

As soon as the words flew out of Sheriff Michael's mouth, the front door flew open behind them, cracking against the wall with a loud bang. The hulking figure in the doorway was clear as day and the pick axe he had in his hand, was lodged in the back of Sheriff Michael's head in an instant, the sharp edge pointing out between his eyes.

As the dead Sheriff fell to the floor, the lights in the entire cabin flickered off, plunging them into an unforgiving darkness. Terrified screams followed when the figure stomped further into the living room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alright, so, this got so long and away from me that I don't actually know if it's any good. There's a lot that happens in this chapter and a lot of things are going on at the same time, so keep that in mind when the perspectives change. I tried to make it clear. In any case, I'm excited I finally finished this. One more chapter after this one and this story is done! Thanks so much for everyone who sticks around. I know I don't update as much as anyone would like, but my life is pretty damn busy sometimes. Anyway, I don't own SVU but I sure love to torture them. 
> 
> WARNING: It's a little graphic in this chapter. ENJOY.

**NIGHT 4**

Carisi tripped over his feet and hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him. He didn't have time to groan in pain as his hearing was overwhelmed and he felt his mind being pulled in every direction.

There were screams coming from everywhere, leaving him staring towards the open door, the only light source available. It lit up only a fraction of the living room, the blistering cold wind blowing snow onto the hard wood floors. He was only on the ground for a half-second more and he gathered himself, jumping to his unsteady feet, just as larger body slammed into his. He could recognize Fin's cologne almost immediately, as well as the gun shoved roughly into his stomach.

Carisi grunted against the impact but clung to the man, "Don't shoot!" His yell was almost drowned out by the sickly, wet sounds and gargled screams that followed. A thud and a blood splatter followed and Carisi had a second of unimaginable horror as the body slid halfway out the open front door.

It was an instant thought that the body was one of them, it was one of their own, but the khaki pants and black boots didn't belong to one of them and he nearly sobbed in relief. He felt Fin pushing on him, yelling at him in a tone he'd never encountered with him before and he moved, trusting his own instincts to carry his feet where they needed to go.

There was no time to worry about everyone else as he and Fin disappeared down the hallway and into a room, the bathroom, where he almost tipped over and fell into the tub. He belatedly realized his gun was still in his hand and he shoved it into his pants, needing to take a second to calm down. He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath.

"Fin," Rita's shaky voice called out and Carisi hadn't even realized she was with him. He reached out blindly into the bathroom, his hand brushing against her neck. She jumped away but he was quick to say her name, his voice a little breathless while he tried to gather himself. His heart beat was thumping wildly in his chest and Fin sounded like he'd ran a marathon.

"C'mere," Fin whispered and cloth rustled against cloth. Rita pressed against Fin, but her back rested against Carisi's chest as they all stood quietly in the dark room, listening outside of the door for noises. The distant sound of a door slamming shut and heavy, thumping footsteps pierced the silence of the house. The sounds were amplified, sounding loud without the low hum of the heat or the background noise of the television.

Their breaths mingled together in the darkness. Carisi could feel Rita shift closer into them and Fin tighten his hold around her waist. They listened until the heavy footsteps stopped, plunging them into total silence once more.

It felt like an eternity before anyone dared to speak.

"Who has their phone?"

The question from Fin prompted Carisi to plunge into his pocket and pull out his forgotten cell phone. He struggled to find the home button, but when he did, the bright light burned his eyes with a picture of Jesse smiling happily in his embrace. Battery on 5%. No signal in the corner. But they could still dial 911.

He did so without question.

The light disappeared as he held the phone to his ear. He took a sharp, shaky breath, waiting for the call to connect. It rang a few times, but dropped the moment he connected to dispatch. He cursed and pulled it away, fingers moving rapidly back across the keyboard.

"Fucking call dropped," he said by way of an explanation. Fin and Rita stayed huddled close to him, watching his fingers fly. He was about to raise the phone to his ear when the phone vibrated and shut off, descending them back into darkness.

"Oh God," Rita whispered and Carisi cursed again. Fin sighed heavily, pulling Rita closer to him. Carisi shoved his dead phone back into his pocket, wondering why this was beginning to look more like a bad, B-rated horror movie by the second. Everything was falling into place.

A separated group…a dead phone...an un-killable stalker trying to tear them limb from limb? Yeah, sounded like one of those low budge killer flicks he used to watch back in high school with girls dumb enough to go on dates with him.

"Calm down, baby," Fin said softly and Rita, who'd been trying not to break out into full on sobs, sniffled but seemed to calm down after. He felt Fin reach a hand out and grab onto his arm, getting his attention.

"Let's all calm down and think."

Easier said than done.

"We need to get to our room. Our phones are charged, we can call from there."

"Yeah, but how do we get passed that fucking giant out there with a pick axe, trying to kill us?"

"Our door is right down there…he won't know if we're very quiet."

Carisi huffed and but stopped when Fin squeezed his arm, almost to the point of pain. "Um, ow!"

"Shut it. We can't stay in here. It's too small of a room and if he finds us, were all dead. Now think!"

* * *

Rafael fell back against the wall directly next to the door, bumping into the dresser and landing on Liv's tipped over purse. He groaned lowly in pain and Liv hushed him right away. The moonlight shining in through the open blinds in their room allowed him to see her pressed against the door, gun still in her hand. Amanda stood by her side, breathing harshly, but with a wild look in her eye she only ever reserved for the field.

With gritted teeth, he reached up and poked around blindly for the stab wound in his shoulder, still bleeding, although not as heavily. He could feel the half-stitched wound and followed the string down to the tip of the needle, that lied against his chest. His fingers were slippery with his own blood still oozing from the wound and he hated knowing they were going to have to finish stitching it. He wasn't going to die from blood loss.

None of them were going to die, period. They couldn't.

He accidentally tugged a little too hard on the string, pulling his skin tighter. The sharp stinging pain was almost too much to hold back a groan for, but he bit his tongue in the still silence that fell over the entire house. Heavy footsteps disappeared out of thin air, leaving behind the soft whistle of blowing air.

"Shit…I can't hear anything," Liv whispered, just barely loud enough for Rafael to hear. He breathed heavily, and held onto the needle in his hand. He didn't want to pull her away from the door, but he was losing blood rapidly and he knew the effects of blood loss. He would become dead weight with little to no energy and there was no way he was going to die in a powerless cabin.

He survived that crazy bitch in the basement…he would survive this.

"Should we look?"

"No. No…I don't know…"

"Liv," he called out softly. He could see her shift the slightest in the broken moonlight towards him. He wasn't visible in the light, but she could tell where he was with his presence alone.

"Yeah, honey," she whispered and bent down. Her hand bumped into his shoulder before it landed securely and she pulled herself to him. He brought up his free hand and waved it around, finding her thigh instead of her face. He gripped it anyway, desperate to feel some sort of comfort. He was so tired.

"I'm losing a lot of blood…we have to finish this," he breathed harshly. He didn't want to acknowledge how short of breath he was feeling, but he didn't have to. His voice sounded winded and he could tell Liv was just as worried about that new development.

"I need light," she whispered. Her hand slipped away and he could hear the rustle of fabric, see her shift in the streaked light emanating from outside. They were bathed in light seconds later. He almost jumped when he saw Amanda had moved directly in front of him, just inches from his feet.

"Let me see," Liv whispered and moved a piece of his shirt that had flopped over the open wound. She hissed and shook her head. "Take this, please."

Amanda swooped down and dropped her gun, keeping it strategically placed by her side just in case she had to grab it quickly. The act was mirrored by Liv. Rafael sometimes marveled at how they could possibly have the foresight to place their weapons strategically like that, under dire circumstances, but he supposed it came with being a cop.

He'd witnessed it countless times, but seeing it in a situation where all their lives were on the line, it was a different feeling. It didn't make him feel safe. It made feel like he was danger, oddly enough.

"Grab that pillow from the bed, Manda." The blonde moved swiftly, dragging Liv's pillow and all but flinging it at him. He grabbed it and shoved some of the material into his mouth, just as Liv penetrated his skin with the needle again. He whimpered and breathed harshly, taking some comfort in Amanda's comforting pat on the shoulder.

It stung and it hurt far worse than anything had ever hurt him before, but Liv worked fast and efficiently, sewing his cut up the best she could. She looked down at her handy work and shook her head. It was still bleeding, but not as bad as before. It reminded her that they had to get out of there quickly and to safety, lest he bleed out on the floor of this cabin.

Which was NOT happening to him or her or any of them.

"We have to get out of here," Liv whispered, running her fingers through her hair. Rafael wanted to reach out and comfort her, but he was feeling weak and tired, neither feeling a good thing. They were well and truly stuck, especially since the only sound they could hear through the door was the fucking wind.

"We could jump out the windows…Get help from there?"

"How are we going to get help? Steal the police car outside? We've barely had service out here the past couple of days, which means we haven't been able to use navigation. We can't be driving around a town we don't know looking for help. Carisi, Fin, and Rita are God knows where in this house and Rafael's bleeding out. We can't leave…we have to find a different way."

"How the fuck are we supposed to do that, then? The lights are off and we don't know where that guys is! For all we know, he could be on the other side of the door, ready to kill us! We have to do something and we have to do it now!"

Rafael looked between their two heads as the door to the bathroom opened silently in the striped light from outside. He swallowed heavily, the sound of their argument drowned out by the blood rushing through his veins. He was frozen, back pressed up against the wall and pain from his impromptu stiches dissolving into nothing.

All he could focus on was a dark shadow stepping out into the room and the shining of a blade that pierced his very soul. His lips moved but no words came out. All he could do was sit there and watch it stalk closer to them. He raised a trembling hand and captured Liv's wrist easily, thanks to the phone light that still encompassed him.

"Liv," he was able to mumble out, hand shaking as it gripped her. Both she and Amanda shut up immediately and looked at him, seeing his eyes wide with fear and his whole form shaking.

"Rafi?"

"Liv…Liv!"

She shook her head, trying to understand him. The figure drew closer…close enough to see a large blade appear directly above her head. His breath caught in his throat and he yanked on her wrist, sending her barreling into him. Amanda gasped and reached for her gun just as the blade sliced across Liv's back, shearing he fabric and barely grazing her skin.

The resounding sounds of five rounds of ammo being emptied into the cold air shocked them both. Liv kept her face buried in his chest, knowing better than to raise her head and risk being shot. When it all stopped, Amanda picked up the dropped phone again and aimed it around the room, looking frantically for the person she was just shooting at.

The body lay still on the floor just feet from them, spots of blood loitering the area around it. Liv lifted her head and looked behind her, careful not to lean to far back and risk aggravating Rafael's injury.

"Dead?"

"I think so," Amanda wheezed, trying to catch her breath. Rafael let his head hit the back of the wall, calming his own rapidly beating heart. Liv reached behind her and felt the smear of blood on her back and she cursed. It stung, but it didn't feel like the cut went too deep. She'd had a blade buried deeper than that before, so she wasn't worried. She was more worried about her boyfriend that was wincing in pain just sitting so still.

Their heavy breathing was broken by a rapid thumping from outside the door, growing closer to their location. Liv and Amanda looked at each other for a split second, ready to move. Amanda's gun was empty but Liv had a good few bullets left and loaded in her own side arm.

"Can you stand?" Rafael nodded and, with some difficulty, stood up, using the wall to help him. Liv wrapped an arm around his back and he leaned some of his weight on her, careful not to stretch the shoddy stitches in his shoulder.

The rapid thumping stopped outside, but none of them paid it any attention. They had to move, no matter the consequences. They were sitting ducks in that room and there was more than one person. Four people were behind this, and God knew how many more.

"What's the plan," he groaned, hissing in pain.

"We're going to have to- "

The distant sounds of screaming and gunshots cut them off and Rafael's heart dropped into his chest. Liv and Amanda spent no more talking on the issue. The door to the bedroom was kicked open by Amanda, with so much force he could feel it in his teeth. He pushed Liv forward and ran after them unaided, with great difficulty. She was armed, and she was a good shot. If anyone was going to be able to take them down, it would be her.

* * *

"Were those shots fired?"

"Fuck," Fin growled, relinquishing his hold on Carisi's arm. They'd been talking for close to two minutes in the silence of the bathroom when the noises (five short bursts to be exact) tore them from their brainstorming. The footsteps that followed left them little choice than to move.

"We gotta go."

"Go where?"

"I don't know. But wherever Liv and the rest of them are, we gotta go give them backup."

Rita whimpered and Fin shushed her, reminding her they were going to be ok. "You stay behind us. It'll be fine. He can't take on four of us with guns all at once."

"Fin," Carisi interjected, "You sure?"

"You got another idea?"

His silence was enough of an answer. Fin pulled on his arm and Carisi moved behind him, pressed uncomfortably against his back. He pushed Rita behind Carisi's back and the woman gripped his shirt, pulling tight against his chest. He could feel Fin preparing himself and Rita shaking behind him and, almost as an after though, he reached between Rita and his back and pulled the gun out of his jeans.

A cold hand landed on his shoulder and he jumped a little, "Just stay close to us. You'll be fine."

He could feel Rita nod and readjust her grip on his shirt, grabbing two new handfuls of the fabric. That made Carisi stop and freeze. He could hear Fin turning the door knob, but he stopped him. "Why?" Fin sounded intense, even has whispered.

What was more intense was the tightening of the hand on his shoulder and the fact that both of Rita's hands were gripping the back of his shirt. Carisi swallowed hard and reached up, ignoring Fin's questioning again and grazed his fingertips along the hand. The fingers were cold and responded to him by clamping down on him and pulling him backwards.

Rita yelped as she went sailing to the ground and Carisi stumbled over, falling directly into a body that didn't belong to either of his friends. He yelled when his gun went flying out of his hand and clattered on the ground, and a set of teeth sunk into his neck.

He flailed his arms around wildly, managing to land a punch into the person's face behind him. He could hear the low grunt that came from the person when its teeth were removed from his neck, but it was almost drowned out by Rita's screams and Fin's yelling.

Carisi felt the impact of fists against his face as he dropped to the ground, trying in vain to block the heavy hits. The pain was so intense, he could barely think straight, but he was able to gurgle out, "Shoot! Shoot!"

Carisi reached up between the fists and delivered his own unforgiving blow to the man's face. It was enough to knock him back a little. Carisi had the foresight to roll away and cover his face when Fin released a few rounds into the confined space. A body falling over into the tub was enough of a confirmation that Fin had made a hit.

"Shit, Carisi? Carisi!"

Carisi groaned, feeling his head spin and blood seep out from his nose and mouth. He spit blood and a tooth out onto the floor, feeling nearly immobile and close to unconsciousness. Rita was still sobbing somewhere next to him and Fin was doing his best to calm her while trying to find him.

It didn't take long and soon, Carisi was being hauled up by Fin, one arm over the man's shoulders and his legs uselessly trying to help him walk. He wiped a hand across his mouth, feeling blood and saliva wetting his skin. He could feel his eyes swelling up and he was almost positive his nose was broken, but he couldn't focus on his injuries.

The bathroom door was open and Fin was dragging him out of the room.

* * *

They met in the middle of the living room, with just enough light to see each other clearly. Carisi was nearly unconscious propped up next to Fin, Rita's eyes were wet and bloodshot, but she was relatively calm. Amanda and Liv assessed them quickly.

"You guys alright?"

"No. We're not. Let's get the fuck out of here," Amanda said and gestured to the door.

"Think we can jack that SUV out there?"

"Worth a shot. I can hotwire a car. Now let's go!"

" _You're not leaving."_

The booming voice echoed within the room, ricocheting off the walls. Rafael pulled himself closer into the group, back turned to them as he scanned the kitchen area. It was dark and the light from outside only reached as far as the first barstool, but everything else was dark. They needed to _move_ -

The fist came out of nowhere, literally throwing him onto the ground. He could taste his own blood and see the hulking figure standing above him. Liv growled and raised her gun, only for it to be swatted out of her hand. The hand that wrapped around her throat seconds later squeezed painfully tight. Amanda was right next to her, using brass tactics to get her free.

The blonde acted out of instinct and sunk her teeth into his fingers. He growled and dropped his hand away from Liv's neck, delivering a stinging smack across Amanda's face. They were unfazed though. Amanda grabbed for Liv, who was still coughing and yelled unintelligibly at Fin and Carisi.

"Go! Outside! Outside!" Fin practically barreled out of the front door and tripped over his own feet, Carisi landing in a heap next to him and barely moving. Amanda had tugged Liv out, despite the woman all but fighting her to get back to Rafael who had disappeared completely.

Rita had started to follow and tripped over her own feet, falling to the floor in a heap. She curled into a ball and closed her eyes, hyperventilating and going into a near full panic attack. She didn't listen to anything around her, other than the doors slamming shut behind the people who were her only chance of survival.

* * *

"Shit. Shit! No!" Liv broke away from Amanda and yanked and turned the handles on the doors aggressively, but they wouldn't budge. Amanda and Fin watched uselessly until Fin pushed her aside and applied more force, but yielded the same result. He winced in pain as the stinging in his arm grew worse and Liv pushed him back aside. Her and Amanda were the only ones least injured at that point and Carisi was nearly unconscious in the snow.

"Help him," she nodded to Carisi and Fin went willingly, helping the younger man to keep his eyes open. He helped wipe some of the blood from his face, seeing for the damage for himself. "Stay awake, kid. Don't close your eyes on me."

Carisi mumbled something and just stayed still, propped up against the house. He jumped when Liv angrily slammed her hands onto the wooden door and didn't stop. Amanda joined a second later, yelling for both Rita and Rafael, who were still in the house. Fin jumped up, ready to join them, when he spotted Skip's body, half buried in the snow that still covered the porch steps.

If he listened carefully, he could hear the faint sounds of a radio coming through, muffled by the snow. Fin had been a cop long enough to know when to act and, even though he wasn't a fan of touching dead bodies, there was no room for hesitation. He went to the edge of the porch and yanked the smaller man out of the snow, carefully avoiding the headless upper body and, instead, pulled from his belt.

It was a clear voice coming through, requesting a check in. It forced Amanda and Liv to turn and look at them, a glimmer of hope blanketing the frantic air around them.

"Skip and the Captain are dead. Shut the fuck up and listen to me."

The radio fell silent but he continued. "254 Cypress Lane. Our cars are buried in the snow and there's some giant mothafucka tryin' to kill us. Get the fuck down here and bring an ambulance."

Carisi groaned and leaned over onto his side, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the porch. Amanda quickly went to his side to keep him from falling face first into it. She grimaced and looked at him.

"Two ambulances. Hurry the fuck up! You got that?!"

Silence, and then, "…Yes, sir."

Fin nodded and set the radio on the porch again. They all looked around at each other for a second before Liv turned back and continued slamming her hands on the door. Fin joined her, doing his best with one hand.

* * *

Rita raised her head slowly and looked up, focusing on what little of the ceiling light she could see. The moonlight bounced off it, but it wasn't nearly enough that she could see anything from her vantage point. The lights were still off and everyone was outside. She tried following but she panicked. She fell, she panicked and she froze.

She stood up carefully, and turned towards the door. Uneven, slow breathing greeted her and she could faintly make out the outline of the hulking man near the doorway. Behind it, the handles on the doors were turning and rattling uselessly, and a moment after, incessant pounding set it, shaking the windows in the door.

It didn't move, though. It stayed where it was and Rita, in all her panicked thinking, turned around and faced away from it. She closed her eyes and whispered to herself, bottom lip quivering as she forced herself to stay calm. The chanting in her head was a routine she developed from the time she started ballet when she was seven-years-old, till last week, when she was defending an innocent defendant in a double rape case. It kept her calm, it kept her center.

If only it could keep her from being cut in half with a pick axe.

The power kicked back on suddenly and Rita opened her eyes, and found herself staring at the fireplace. She blinked, dots dancing around her vision as she tried to orient herself. She kept impossibly still, listening to the uneven breathing that stood behind her. A cold shiver ran down her spine, leaving her to shake uncontrollably in her flimsy night clothes.

She jumped when the doors began to rattle and moments later, there was incessant pounding on the door. The faint, familiar voices outside were calling out, but she couldn't make out their words. They were muffled by the door and by her own pounding heart.

"I like your hair."

The gruff voice was unfamiliar and so sinister, it brought instant tears to her eyes. She held back a scared whimper when those familiar heavy, thumping footsteps advanced on the rugged floor. She turned around quickly, not bothering to move the piece of hair hanging in her face as she locked eyes with this giant man. His hair was dirty and thick, like his clothes. He was a large man; he was so large he could tower over even the biggest body builder.

The banging on the door didn't stop and she could faintly hear Fin calling to her from the other side. She wanted to scream back to him but she kept her mouth closed. She wasn't sure it was a wise decision.

Her mouth went dry when he took another step towards her and dropped his pick axe on the couch. She took one back, looking all around at the possible exits she could try and make. She was smaller and quicker than him, but he possessed a strength she saw first-hand. Regardless of how quick she was, she wouldn't make it past him.

"Are you afraid?"

He chuckled and took a few more steps forward, looking happy when she took a few steps away. She moved around the coffee table and sofa, fully aware she had a loveseat couch behind her. She didn't respond to him and, instead, looked away from his cold stare. She jumped and screamed and fell on her backside when he suddenly shouted, "Boo!" He cackled immediately after, finding her reaction amusing. The pounding on the door stopped instantaneously.

He grinned a mouthful of gritty teeth, slowly advancing on her position. She scrambled back, trying to find purchase on the area rug. Her back hit the couch and she turned quickly, using the cushions to stand on shaky legs.

"I think I'll cut your hair…," he grumbled, licking his lips. The glass on the front door rattled again, the continuous pounding from before starting again, even more intense than before. Between the screaming outside, her heavy breathing and the thumping of his heavy feet, she couldn't think straight. Her mind was moving faster than it ever had before.

"I'll wear it. I'll be pretty like you…"

Rita wanted to scream. She wanted her feet to work as fast as her mind was, but they wouldn't. She stumbled and backed into a side table, knocking over a decorative potted plant. The clay pot broke loudly on the ground and before she could stop herself, she stepped onto a sharp edge. It pierced her skin and she cried out, but she yanked the shard from her foot and hopped over it, not missing a beat.

She sniffed back tears and shoved the piece of clay between her fingers, stretching it out towards him. He chuckled, clearly amused by her actions. "I won't hurt you. You can't hurt me."

"Fuck you!" Her voice was steady as she stepped onto the hardwood floor by the kitchen. The blood oozing from her foot caused her to slip and loose her balance, sending her flying back onto the floor. The giant stopped and bellowed laughing, head thrown back towards the ceiling. Rita shivered and crawled back, stopping until she shifted around the corner of the kitchen island.

She stopped when she saw Rafael staring back at her, nose dripping blood and clearly broken. His teeth were lined with blood and his shirt was caked in it, but that wasn't what made her stomach drop in her throat.

He was pointing a gun at her, propped up against the counter that was smeared with blood. He looked terrified and for a few seconds, she thought he was going to shoot her, but he quickly dropped it to the floor when he realized who she was.

"Ri- "

"Shh!" She hushed him quickly and scooted over to his side. She grabbed for the gun and reached out to him, but he waved her off, knowing she was going to assess his wounds. "We have to get out of here, Rafael, but I don't know what to do." Her whisper was breathy and the banging on the door had gone from rapid beating to drawn out, heavy thumps.

"Shoot him," Rafael said heavily, closing his eyes. He was still losing blood rapidly and she didn't want to think about just how much. "Just shoot him."

Rafael opened his eyes again and nodded at her, doing his best to instill some confidence in her. She appreciated it, but her gut was swirling like a tornado at the thought of handling a gun…at the thought of shooting someone…

She'd seen it done countless times. She'd been at crime scenes and she'd seen photos. She'd represented heartless bastards that killed people for just looking at them funny. Rare was it a time that she ever represented someone that killed for the sake of survival. She was about to be one of those people. She-

She was yanked back suddenly, a scream leaving her mouth and the gun falling from her hand in shock. Her stomach hit the rough edge of the wrap around counter that scraped the skin and tore her shirt. She was dragged until she was picked up and thrown against the glass coffee table, her weight breaking it instantly.

She hung limply over the metal frame, in so much pain the only thing she could hear was the blood rushing through her ears. The giant was before her again, smiling down at her bruised form with so much satisfaction it was sickening. Rita stared back up at him, too shocked to move.

It wasn't until he palmed himself through his pants did she even have the willpower to throw herself onto the floor and scramble back up again, albeit on shaky legs. Bloodied cuts littered bare ankles and wrists and her skin was slick with sweat, but she couldn't give up. She couldn't. A sob escaped her lips when she realized she was going the exact same thing she was before. Leading him around in circles, stalling time…doing anything she could to keep him away from her and from Rafael.

She had to get to that gun.

"Your blood smells like flowers."

Rita swallowed, eyes darting back towards the kitchen counters where Rafael and the weapon were. She wasn't sure if he knew Rafael was even behind the counter or not, or if he did, he just didn't care. She licked her lips and moved the stray strands of hair out of her face, doing her best to keep that look of absolute terror he was enjoying on her face. If he knew she was plotting something…

"I want to taste it."

Rita side-stepped the plant this time, her back turning towards the counters. She wouldn't take her eyes off him again. Not for a second. She had to figure out some way to get to that gun…

Their slow walk was stopped suddenly by the breaking glass of the small picture windows in the door, sizeable rocks hitting the hardwood floor. It grabbed his attention, his thick eyebrows furrowing over his cold eyes. His thick hand curled into a fist.

He growled and stalked towards the door, leaving Rita to nearly sprint to the kitchen counter. She knew doing so was going to force him to turn back to her but all she had to do was move faster. Her bloodied foot made her slip again, sending her careening into the granite, but Rafael had popped up on his knees, just enough that his head and his good arm were visible.

He slid the gun over the counter and Rita scrambled to grab it. She had it for a second, but it went flying behind her, along with her body being thrown after it. She landed harshly on the floor, sliding into some of the glass from the coffee table and struggled to catch her breath. Rafael's gut wrenching scream made her heart jump into her throat, but she didn't look up.

She crawled quickly over to the gun, that was leaning against the metal frame of the broken coffee table and secured it in her hand. With what little information she had on guns, she knew enough to double check the safety was off. It felt substantial in her hand, like it could do real damage, which she was about to do.

She didn't have time to think about it, because he had Rafael's hand turned at an odd angle and was cursing so loudly, it almost drowned out the noise of the banging on the door. She straightened up and took a ragged breath, clearing the sweat from her face with a dirty palm. She marched with purpose right up behind him, and with no hesitation, she grabbed a handful of the black, dirty hair and yanked back hard enough, he yelped in pain. She shoved the gun against his right temple, and Rita realized the look on his face was one of shock.

"For a serial killer, you really suck at leaving your bases uncovered." She hissed in his ear.

Rita spit the blood from her mouth, and grit her teeth, the gun held steady in her hand with her finger on the trigger. She yanked harder on his hair, causing him to cry out in pain, but he didn't release his hold on Rafael. He wouldn't let go. Not even as she kicked at the back of his knee roughly and made him collapse to the floor.

She smiled through grit teeth when she felt some of the hairs on his head were pulled from sweaty scalp. For a second, she thought about the consequences of the satisfaction she was feeling. Instant guilt and shame, mixed with the urgency to just end him…it scared her.

It scared her because she was so ready to kill.

"You won't hurt me," he said lowly, finally letting go of Rafael, who fell back behind the counter with a loud thump. A heavy hand fell against the back of her head and grabbed her own hair, that was up in a bun. He yanked roughly, but she didn't bother screaming in pain, because her self-reflection was over and consequence be damned…she had to end this.

"No. You won't hurt me," she whispered roughly, "But I'll hurt you." She pulled the trigger.

The blood splattered back against her half-shielded face. The gun kicked so hard it nearly fell out of her flimsy grasp, but she dropped it on the floor anyway. It clattered against the hard wood floor, hitting the wooden counter just as she dropped to her knees.

She was well and truly exhausted. So exhausted, she didn't even flinch when the front doors were slammed open and cracked against the wall, revealing Amanda and Liv, back to back and breathing heavily. Rafael groaned out in pain just a few feet from her and Fin had Carisi's arm over his shoulder, half-carrying the man who was drenched in snow and whose face was bruised heavily.

Fin nearly shoved Carisi into Amanda's arms, and ran to her side, fear and something else indescribable on his face she hadn't ever seen before. It was incredibly powerful to witness her normally stoic boyfriend near tears as he cradled her face in his hands and wiped the blood away from her cheeks.

Liv looked around frantically, calling out to Rafael, who groaned loud enough that it gave away his position. She went sailing past them and around the corner of the kitchen, disappearing to the ground. Rita sighed heavily, feeling, for the first time in a couple of days, at ease. Even with someone else's blood on her face and a death on her hands…she was at ease.

She leaned against Fin and she closed her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly to the sound of Fin's rapidly beating heart and sirens growing closer in the distance.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: IT'S DONE. Ok, guys, here's a happy little ending! Again, I think it's not all that great, but I'm my own worst critic. Sometimes, I'm not. But I'm so thankful for everyone who read and reviewed this fic! I've been out of the fanfic game for a few months, so I'm hoping finishing this fic makes up for that. Also, we all need a happy ending to take away from the fact that this upcoming Wednesday is giving us serious anxiety. Anyway, I don't own SVU or its characters. ENJOY!

**DAY 5**

Liv, Amanda, and Fin sat quietly in the hospital waiting room.

No one spoke. They all just sat staring at a white wall filled with information packets on various diseases, general health care and programs offered around the area. There was a flat screen in the corner, displaying Live newsfeed of the towns efforts to clean up the heavy snow fall that they would occasionally glance at, but didn't comment on.

The three of them were alone in the room, making the silence deafening. They'd been sitting there a good six hours, only moving to use the restroom and refill their coffee cups. The Feds had stepped in after state troopers responded to their call and handed the case up the chain. Understandable, given the number of deaths on their hands.

Dodds had been notified by Liv, and after being told that he didn't need to make a special trip up to see them, left them to each be interviewed separately by the agents on the case.

Five bodies were found.

Five wayward people with no real motive. They were people who wanted to kill. Nothing more.

DNA would take a while to come back, but there was almost no question that each of their own samples were going to be found at the other crime scenes. The agents didn't outright say, but all three of them knew well enough to read the silence that followed.

Fortunately, questioning didn't take all that long. Their stuff had been packed and brought for them, nestled away in their cars, that had been dug out by highway plows, that were parked out by the ER doors. The roads weren't clear enough to drive, especially after what they'd been through, and Rita and Sonny had to stay overnight for observation. Rafael would be there a day or two longer.

As the minutes ticked by slowly, they began to grow restless, but still, none of them spoke. They were all dirty and bruised up. They'd been treated each for minor injuries, but hadn't had the opportunity to clean up. Not that they would take that chance. Loved ones were beyond those hospital doors.

Rita was undergoing questioning, since she had pulled the trigger. Her injuries were minor, but they still wanted her to stay the night, anyway, just in case. Carisi had been knocked out with pain pills, but there wasn't much they could do for a severely beaten face. Rafael had to go into surgery for his shoulder, to see if there had been any real nerve damage, as well as to adjust his broken nose.

All in all, they were lucky to all be alive, according to the head agent they spoke to. The other victims had been so savaged, it was taking weeks to completely identify and inform family members, as well as perform autopsies. That had been the most startling piece of information for them all.

They'd all come so close to dying.

Too close.

Not even years on the force for Liv, Fin, Amanda, and Sonny could prevent that kick to the head. They put their lives on the line every day, but so rare it was for them to the hunted.

They looked up as a doctor and a few federal agents approached them in the waiting room, talking quietly with each other. Liv stood as they came to a stop in front of them, eager for information on the three beyond the doors.

"You can visit them now. Mr. Barba's surgery went well. No real nerve damage, but he's going to be in a sling for a few weeks. Standard broken nose, as well. We did give him a blood transfusion and he's on oxygen because he was having some difficulty, but other than that, he'll make a full recovery."

Liv sighed and nodded, the weight on her shoulders lifted. She had a feeling things were going to be ok, but she knew better than to get her hopes up completely. "Can I see him?"

"Yes. Keep in mind, he's just out of surgery so he's still under the effects of anesthesia." Liv nodded and didn't wait to hear what else was said. She didn't really care. If they wanted to question eighteen more times in the next few days, they could. She just needed to see him.

Fin knew this too, so he stepped up to the agent who insisted on interviewing Rita and gave him a look. Amanda patted him on the shoulder, reminding him they had no pull over the Feds or anywhere in this district. "You all done harassing my girlfriend?"

"Fin," Amanda sighed, shaking her head at the group in front of them. She understood Fin's protectiveness, but she was ready to go see Carisi and she knew he was ready to go see Rita. Getting the agents all worked up wasn't going to help them in doing that faster.

"Sir," the agent started, a warm expression directed towards them both, "We just asked a few questions. Which…didn't go over so well. I don't know how you handle her, but kudos to you."

For a second, Amanda really thought Fin was going to throw a punch, but he didn't. Instead, Fin chuckled and excused himself, a big smile plastered on his face as he followed Liv through the same double doors. Amanda excused herself as well without another word, forgetting everything that had happened in the past couple of hours in favor of seeing Sonny.

* * *

She was proud of herself when she saw him and she didn't cry.

He was bruised up pretty badly. His nose had been broken and she could tell with the way it was positioned slightly off center. He had a couple of cuts and scrapes along his face and arms, but the biggest injury had to be the cut in his arm. It was covered in bandages and she couldn't see it, but the doctor had promised her a full recovery, and she would take their word for it.

She stood near the door for a while, watching him slowly slip out of sleep, his eyes opening and closing for seconds at a time. She didn't make her way over until his eyes were squinting at the farthest wall, brow furrowed like he was trying to figure out what he was staring at.

Liv lowered herself onto the seat and reached out, resting her hand on his forearm. It twitched in return.

"Hey," Liv said softly. Rafael looked towards her, eyes still squinted. She could tell the moment his vision cleared up, because he sighed softly beneath the breathing mask and let his head fall back against the pillow. She shared a watery smile and leaned forward, kissing him on the forehead.

With some difficulty, he raised the hand on his good arm and pulled down the mask just so that his mouth was visible over the top of it. "Love…you…"

Liv bit back the sob that wanted to come out and instead, dipped the mask lower so she could kiss his lips. After, she slipped it back over his mouth and caressed his cheek. His lids fluttered shut as her thumb ran a familiar pattern underneath his left eye. "I love you, too, honey. So much."

* * *

Rita sat silently on the bed, staring out of the window at the falling snow.

It wasn't blowing sideways or erratically, trying to find a surface to stick to. It just fell peacefully from the clouds, landing serenely on the plowed roads outside.

Fin stood behind her, tracing the large bruises on her bare back, where she fell through the glass coffee table. When he first brushed his fingertips against her skin, she was brought back momentarily to that night when she woke up to cold fingers on her back, following a similar pattern.

It scared her that she went immediately to that and that her first reaction was to jump away from him and fling herself into the corner of the room. He looked so taken aback and hurt, but he understood. He understood well. His years on the force gave him plenty of insight to what victims of violent attacks were like.

But, this was different. He'd said so. It hadn't ever happened to someone he cared for so deeply. He hadn't had to deal with a lover tearing herself away from him because he touched her. She pleaded with him tearfully afterwards to realize that it wasn't him.

She knew, from the moment she was rolled into the hospital on a gurney, that this was a new reality for her. She'd been put through the ringer. She'd been thrown through glass and violated in such a personal manner. She killed someone. Blood was on her hands forever now.

" _But you saved yourself. You saved all of us."_

Yeah, maybe she did. But a life had been taken and it terrified her just how easy it was to do so. She felt no remorse for the man who's blood still stained herself. She just felt the incredibly crushing guilt her clients must have felt when they murdered someone.

"Baby," Fin said softly, moving around to sit next to her on the bed. She bit down the reaction to lean away from him and, instead, leaned into him, shoving her face into his neck and smelling his cologne. It centered quickly, so she reached up and grabbed the collar of his jacket, pulling herself closer. "Let's get you covered up. You're shivering."

She nodded after a moment of hesitation, forcing herself to let him go. He helped her back into bed and then laid back with her, cuddled on the small space. She curled into him the best she could and just listened to his breathing. It was the only thing she wanted to hear for a while.

* * *

"My face hurts."

Amanda chuckled and continued running her fingers through Carisi's hair. He groaned and shifted every minute and she was beginning to grow tired of hearing him complain, but this was the Carisi she'd grown to love. He was a very bad listener, especially when it came to her.

"Well, if you'd stop talking and moving, maybe you wouldn't hurt so bad. You think of that?"

"I'm sorry…I'm hungry. It's making me restless."

Amanda snorted. She was immensely happy to see that his appetite hadn't gone away. If there was one thing she could always count on with him, was that he wouldn't say no to a meal. God, she didn't know what she would do without him sometimes. How he had seamlessly blended into her life without even trying, she wouldn't ever know, but she wouldn't have had it any other way, that was for certain.

"How is everyone else?"

"Good, I think," she said and shifted, sliding further down so their faces were eyes level. One of his eyes was swollen shut, but his other one was just black and purple. He was going to have some extremely nasty bruises for a while. "Barba had to have surgery and he's in recovery right now. Rita was getting checked out and they're making her stay overnight just in case. Fin and Liv are alright, too."

"You?"

She didn't know how to answer that, really. She'd been so distraught over being nearly strangled to death in the dark, but now it seemed insignificant in the grand scheme. She had been in plenty of messed up situations, that was for sure, but this one…this one took something out of here she didn't know she still had.

"Ok, I think. I'm just happy everyone is safe and alive and we can go home soon. They got all our stuff out of there and we have free parking out front for a few days. I suspect you'll be here probably two days. Barba, more like a week."

He didn't say anything after that and just stared up at the ceiling. Amanda swirled the lukewarm liquid in her cup, having given up on drinking it. He finally broke the silence with his stomach, that gurgled uncomfortably next to her.

"They got a cafeteria in this place?"

Amanda rolled her eyes and got off the bed, "They're serving chicken noodle soup and Salisbury steak."

"Grab me two of 'em."

* * *

"Two trays, please." The lunch lady looked at her with a raised brow, but didn't say anything as she handed them over to her. Amanda shook her head and met with Liv and Fin, who were by the coffee stand, amused at her exaggerated eye roll.

"The fourth stomach strikes again?"

"He's pushing it. He knows I'm going to get him whatever he needs." Liv nodded in understanding, holding up the two cups of coffee in her hand.

"Raf was begging for coffee as soon as the anesthetic wore off. By tomorrow morning, he'll be begging me to drive home, get his briefcase, and drive back."

"Does he know how hard it is to do anything with his arm in a sling?"

"I don't think so. He's about to find out, and oh, he's just going to be a peach about it." Amanda hated to think about Barba in a pissy attitude. He was most of the time at work, anyway, but add in a sling and general injury pain…she didn't envy Liv in the least.

"How's Rita?"

The playful tone quickly changed as Fin grew silent and his smile faded. They all knew what pulling the trigger on someone felt like. It wasn't something to be taken lightly and had serious, lasting impacts on the psyche.

"She's…quiet. I think it's hitting her, what happened. Rita's strong." He swirled the brown liquid in his cup and took a gulp. "I just hope she's strong enough to get through this."

They all stood there for another few minutes, talking and coming up with a game plan for the next few days. It was going to be difficult, maneuvering schedules and making sure they were all in contact in case something happened.

They separated a few minutes later, getting back their perspective rooms for the night. Nothing was set in stone as of yet, and they were more than likely going to be questioned by the Feds again, as sole survivors of this serial killing spree, but there was nothing more important than the one's they loved buried back in quiet rooms in this foreign hospital.

* * *

**ONE MONTH LATER**

Rita was proud when she didn't jump at the door to the apartment banging open.

She could hear Fin cursing as he dropped some grocery bags on the counter, along with his keys, and it made her smile, knowing he was berating himself for kicking the door open too harshly. Of course, no matter how many times she told him she was on the mend and getting better with her reactions, he still did his best to limit those loud noises or touches.

She appreciated it, though. It was sweet. They'd had a bit of an issue working past those first few days after they got back from the hospital. Rita had been so on edge, she had Fin check every corner of her penthouse apartment with his gun drawn while she buried her face into his back, shaking like a leaf.

They had a number of arguments as well, that mostly stemmed from the fact that she was grumpy over lack of sleep. The nightmares were still there, but they were subdued. Those first few nights had her waking up in a cold sweat, still vividly feeling glass cutting her skin and the gun fire ringing in her ears.

It had taken quite a few long talks and three visits to a therapist for her to start the healing process. She hated asking for help, but she would admit that those hour-long therapy sessions helped her the most, along with Fin comforting her every step of the way.

"It's ok, honey. I didn't even jump this time." Rita winked at him as he came into the room, shoeless and dressed in a nice sweater and jeans. He smiled at her and leaned down to give her a quick kiss. She didn't let him linger so she could finish putting on her makeup.

"Good. I was afraid I'd walk in here and you'd be tryin' to swing a bat at me."

Rita closed her blush compact with a snap and playfully glared at him in the mirror, "That was one time and I thought you were working a double."

She quickly applied some light mascara and some nude lipstick and double checked her hair before she went about changing. Fin hummed in appreciation when she shimmied out of her robe and revealed one of her favorite underwear sets she treated herself to over the past weekend. She smacked Fin's hand away from her thigh when she passed by him on the way to the closet.

"We're on a time limit. You can investigate my panties, later, Sergeant."

Rita glanced back to see all his focus drawn on her retreating form. Along with the healing process through therapy and other hobbies she liked to take part in, they'd been spending a lot of their free time in the bedroom, which certainly always helped regardless of the situation.

Feeling a little risqué, she pretended to accidentally knock the cream dress she chose to wear that night onto the floor and slowly bent over to pick it up. The pained moan from her bed made her giggle and before he could convince for a quick roll in the sheets, she closed the door to her walk-in closet to get dressed in peace.

She smiled at herself in the full-length mirror, content to leave the memories from a month ago in the back of her mind for the night. Tonight, she was going to have fun with good people and drink and eat good food. Best of all, Fin would be right there with her.

* * *

"I…..got you!"

Carisi threw Jesse a little too high in the air for her liking, but Amanda had to smile at the two best friends playing in the living room. Frannie ran around them excitedly, growling playfully as Jesse was let loose on the ground and picked up the pink dog bone that was a constant in the space.

"Frannie! Be nice!"

Amanda watched the two disappear down the hall and out of sight. They were all ready to go, but their Uber was stuck in traffic and there was no way the three of them were braving the cold for a ten-block walk.

"When are they getting here? I'm starving."

"You ate an hour ago."

"I have four stomachs. We've been over this, Manda," he wagged his finger at her and she reached out to slap it away from her face. She shook her head and reached up to fix one of her earrings that felt a little off. She was excited they were finally having a night away from the apartment and from work to spend time with friends. It had been a hell of a month, between the FBI investigation, their faces being plastered all over national news for the horror story, and just dealing with the after math of the whole ordeal.

She could still sometimes feel the phantom pain of a belt around her neck and the struggle for breath when she was waking up in the morning, but she had learned a long time ago to channel her negative thoughts and anger in a different way. Before, something like this would have sent her straight into a casino or a bar where she could gamble and drink her thoughts away.

Becoming a mother changed a lot of things for her, that was for sure.

"Our driver's here. Jess! Baby, c'mon, we're leaving! Can you get her coat?" Carisi jogged down the hall and scooped her up, making her giggle like crazy when he tickled her under her arms. Amanda side stepped an excited Frannie, who was sniffing the air around the bowl of pasta salad she carried in her hands.

When they were all bundled up, they took their time heading down the stairs, listening to Jesse babble about numbers and animals Carisi had been teaching her over the weekend. She marveled at just how smart her daughter was becoming more and more each day, and she couldn't have done it without Sonny. This co-parenting thing with him had taken so many stresses off her when it came to providing her daughter with what she needed.

Even if Carisi and her were the oddest friends on the planet, she wouldn't trade this little family for anything.

* * *

"For the millionth time, Raf…"

Liv bit back a smirk as Rafael rolled his eyes and passed her on the way out of the kitchen area, accepting a kiss on the cheek from her regardless of his annoyance with her, leaving her to get down the stack of plates from the cabinet.

She'd been on him all day about lifting anything higher than shoulder height or lifting anything heavy in general. He'd just gotten his sling taken off and his arm was still getting used to free movement, which meant he winced every time he tried to lift something and she was getting tired of seeing his wincing face.

"I'm not even in any pain." She gave him a look and he conceded. "I'm not in _that_ much pain. This is ridiculous. I lose my arm for a month, finally get it back and now I can't even use it."

Rafael leaned against the breakfast bar after glancing towards where Noah sat quietly, playing with his toys. Liv met him halfway, their faces close to each other. She cupped his cheek and he kissed her palm. He knew she was only trying to look out for him and she knew he was doing his best to let her. What had happened up in that cabin was going to stay with them for a long while.

What she had seen…having to sew up his shoulder…the terror of realizing he was alone in there with a killer and no protection…

He wasn't one to be babied, but he was letting her do it a little bit at a time, and that was fine with her. It was therapeutic for her, in a weird way.

"Honey, I wish I could take the pain away from you, I really do. But, I can't. Which means you have to listen to the doctor and not lift anything even remotely heavy."

Rafael's brow smoothed out at her words. He knew she was only looking out for his best interest, but that didn't mean he had to like the fact that the doctor (who was twenty years younger than him) told him not to lift more than five pounds minimum. Rafael had tried arguing that he had single files in his briefcase that weighed more than that, but he'd been ignored.

"I'm sorry I've been a pain. I'm just not used to being so…inactive." It was true. Even when he had nothing to do, he still managed to remain busy. Whether that be with cleaning, or reading, or taking care of Noah while she got some much-needed relaxing time, he was never truly bored.

This entire month had been nothing but boredom. Not even consulting on cases kept him busy, because often, all they would need answered was a simple question. She felt bad for him, she did, but not enough that she would stand for him directly disobeying doctor's orders.

"Well…," she stared playfully, walking around the counter to his waiting arms. She wrapped one arm around his neck and played with the collar of his button down hidden underneath his black sweater. "You haven't been completely inactive"

He smirked when she kissed him and it deepened when he slipped his hand into her back pocket and she arched into him. "It doesn't count if you're the one doing all the work." She couldn't argue that one, but she didn't respond. Instead, she just pulled back and rested her forehead against his, basking in his touch. She loved this man. Every day she spent curled up on the chair next to his bed during his time at the hospital cemented that in her heart. They'd all been put through hell, but those scary events had given each of them a startling reminder of just how quick life could be taken from anyone of them at any moment.

That was the only good thing to come from any of it.

"Mommy, can we eat yet? I'm hungry," Noah said, coming to a stop in front of them. They stayed in their embrace, but eyed him as he rubbed his stomach dramatically. Liv rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through the hair at Rafael's neck. "You're rubbing off on him."

Rafael scoffed, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Liv didn't answer him, because she was saved by three loud raps on the door. Noah took off and they both had to remind him not to even think about opening the door on his own. Liv chased him there and, after seeing familiar faces through the peep hole, allowed him to open it on his own.

"Hey, come on in!"

Carisi barreled through the door with Jesse, who was desperate to get down on the floor to greet Noah. Amanda was next with a plastic bowl, followed by Fin and Rita, who were carrying a few bags of their own.

Hugs and kisses were quickly passed around, as if they all hadn't seen each other in so long. It was a miracle they were all even here at the moment, dressed for a Saturday night dinner at her apartment, just because they could.

As they all settled in to eat, Liv couldn't help but feel at home. Even though none of them were blood, they all shared something that couldn't be taken from them. The fog of those events would more than likely remain with them forever, but what was important, was that they had each other. They all knew what they each went through. They all knew exactly what it was like.

They were all there for each other, just like a family was.

Just like a family was supposed to be.


End file.
